


G L I T C H

by CherryBooommb



Category: Day6 (Band), GOT7, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hackers, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Violence, Changbin loves viruses, Computer Programming, Computer Viruses, Cybercrimes, Cybernetics, Fluff and Angst, Hacking, How Do I Tag, Human Experimentation, Human Trafficking, Jae is a genius, Kidnapping, Kim Seungmin & Yang Jeongin | I.N are Best Friends, Mentioned GOT7 Ensemble, Mentioned NCT Ensemble, Mentioned TWICE Ensemble, Minor Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Minor Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Minor Lee Felix/Seo Changbin, Mother Hen Bang Chan, Mother Hen Lim Jaebum, Mother Hen Park Sungjin, Multi, Null are assholes, Protective Hyungs, Protective Jackson, Protective Minho, Protectiveness, Soft Im Jaebum | JB, Threats of Violence, Tired Stray Kids, Trauma, Whump, Why Did I Write This?, Wonpil is pretty chill about all this, Yugyeom and Bambam are little shits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2019-10-01 07:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 39,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17240207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryBooommb/pseuds/CherryBooommb
Summary: Young hacker group "Stray Kids" decide to meddle with a game that wasn't theirs to play.Little did they know, the game was rigged from the very start.





	1. Glossary

Since this is a fic that will be full of computer/hacking terminology I decided to write a little glossary of terms that will come in handy, especially if you aren't familiar with computers/hacking. This is a combination of my own knowledge and some research :)

**White hat hackers - Hackers that use their skills for good, such as for security or penetration testing.**

**Black hat hackers - Hackers that use their skills for bad, such as for stealing information, credit cards etc.**

**Grey hat hackers - Hackers that aren't completely good or bad, they keep things neutral in terms of legal and illegal activity.**

**Back door - A hidden entry into a device or server that is created by a hacker, in order to get back in without brute force.**

**VPN - Virtual Private Network. Software that is used to hide your location.**

**RAT - Remote administration tool.**

**WAP- Wireless access points, a fancy term for a wifi router or anything else along those lines.**

**Doxxing -  a technique of tracing someone or gathering information about an individual using sources on the internet or by other means. It's a useful skill to have as you can find weaknesses and information about your target and exploit them for your benefit.**

**Keystroke logger (or keylogger for short)** **\- This is an application that can be planted on a computer or smartphone, It can track what the user of the device is typing.**

**IoT- Internet of things. This is essentially a network of physical devices with embedded electronics such as sensors, data collectors, actuators, cameras etc.**

**Spyware - software designed to gather information about a user’s computer use without their knowledge.**

**Zero-day/Zero-day exploit - A new, unpatched vulnerability which is used to perform an attack/A new, undocumented threat.**

**IP address - a unique address that computing devices such as personal computers, tablets, and smartphones use to identify itself and communicate with other devices in the IP network. This IP address can reveal the location of the device if found.**

**SQL injection - A code injection technique, used to attack data-driven applications, such as social media.**

**Encryption - Hiding one's data.**

 

Feel free to return to this page if you are unsure of some vocabulary, I may add more terms in the future.

Updates may be very slow as I am busy with exams this year, but I will try my best to keep this fic up

Until next time - Cherry Bomb  <3


	2. A new threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just an ordinary night in the Stray Kids faction, right?...

 

"Thank you, sir!" 

"No problem, kid."

Jisung promptly left the Italian restaurant with a shit eating grin on his face, pizza box in one hand and his phone in the other. It was so easy to hack older people nowadays, they never bothered to move on and "get with the times" as JYP had once said. Despite being part of one of the most elite hacking groups in South Korea, Jisung couldn't help but return to his routes and exploit the ignorant, after all, it's how he managed to survive.

He started to make the journey home, taking his time so he could listen to his favourite podcast on the way. The JYP building wasn't far from the restaurant and Jisung wasn't in any rush.

"Now, gotta wire this to Woojin hyung's account..." He murmured as his thumb began to hit his phone at a speed that some couldn't even comprehend. He knew that his hyung hated it when he stole for him, but the majority of their faction couldn't work as they were too young or didn't want to, and JYP was more of an organization than it was an actual job, and since they were in the midst of a security breach with a cell phone company, it was hard for the older ones to lay down a job as they were so busy, so the kids helped out whenever they could, even if it meant stealing.

After wiring the money to the eldest's account Jisung put his phone on silent, expecting an angry text or call from either Woojin or Chan, their unofficial leader. As he crossed the road his mind began to wander away, away from the podcast. He began to think about how their faction had become what it was,

It started with Jisung getting in trouble with his parents and eventually being kicked out of his home. Chan and his friend Changbin had caught him picking a lock to get into the back room of their shitty apartment at just 15 years of age, and instead of calling the cops they decided to let him into their little clan, which eventually became the hacker group 3RACHA. Chan had been kicked out of university, he was studying I.T and was deemed "too dangerous" to be on campus, as he had hacked into anything and everything in and around the university.

3RACHA had been an underground group for as long as they could hold out, until JYP Tech had gotten into contact with them. Jisung still remembered his hyung's scepticism about joining, saying that it could ruin their reputation. Upon realizing that they couldn't stay hidden forever, they accepted JYP's offer, and thus the faction "Stray Kids" was born.

They had all joined the company one by one, each with their own backgrounds and skill sets. Chan had become their unofficial leader, he showed skill with VPNs and did everything in his power to keep their identities and location safe, no matter what the operation. Woojin was the "Network God" as Felix liked to call him, he could bypass most network types, even without a WAP. Minho liked dirty work and was given the role of Doxxing, he dug up information and exploits on companies and even people.

Changbin wasn't afraid of brute force and became in charge of viruses. Malware, Trojan, Worms, you name it, he had it. Hyunjin's dad had worked in building security and taught his son everything to know about cameras, electric locks and much more, the IOT was definitely the boy's strong point. Felix had joined the company with very limited Korean, but they could still recognize his talent with computers, he worked with keyloggers as well as on his Korean, claiming that "everyone leaves a trace of themselves, no matter what."

Seungmin was a crypter, he had become the caretaker of Stray Kids data, whether he liked it or not, he could safeguard most data they had collected. Jeongin had joined the group under mysterious circumstances, but that didn't stop them from loving him any less. He was a bit of a script kiddie, sure, but that was the thing, he was still a  _kid._ He could worm his way into situations that the others couldn't. If he was caught researching, most adults would brush it off as a project for school, or some kind of childish wonder. The others quickly figured out that having kids in your faction wasn't so bad after all, which some of the older factions would've disagreed with if asked about it.

While Jisung could hack with computers, he wasn't absolutely sure of his ability. His speciality was locks, and lots of them. Anything you threw at him he could pick it. Any kind of code or safe could and would be cracked. His skill didn't end there. He liked to break things, see how things work, this child-like curiosity grew into him becoming some sort of engineer for his faction. Fixing ear-pieces and mending drones was a common occurrence for the teenager, and he loved every second of it.

Jisung was snapped out of his daydream by a cyclist speeding by, giving him a bit of a fright. Jisung checked his watch and decided to walk a bit faster, a cold pizza wasn't very desirable, and they didn't own a microwave.

After arriving at the company building and taking an awkward ride in the elevator with Son Chaeyoung, a girl from the faction "TWICE" he typed the passcode into the keypad of their door, which had many stickers and stupid drawings all over it. None of their seniors had ever commented on it so they never bothered to get rid of the mess.

"Pizza!" Jisung screeched as he watched his faction speed towards him, hunger written all over their faces. Woojin took the box from him with a weary look. "Just because you got this pizza doesn't mean I'm not going to scold you for stealing again."

Jisung smirked. "Sorry, but we wouldn't be able to eat this delicious pizza if it wasn't for my...past?" He forgot where the sentence was going halfway through. Woojin rolled his eyes and took a slice of pizza. 

"Sungie, the Livestream is back up, by the way," Hyunjin said with a mouthful of cheesy goodness. He sat down on their dusty couch and curled up beside their maknae, who was trying his best to do homework and eat at the same time but eventually gave in to the food.

Jisung punched the air in triumph. Their favourite League of Legends Livestream had been down since last month, but now it was finally back and their internet meant no buffering in the slightest.

Chan grabbed the last slice of pizza and began to help the other push their chairs and couches together while Seungmin connected one of their many monitors to the TV, which began broadcasting the Livestream. The group huddled up together with only the light from the television to see, Hyunjin curled up next to Jeongin, Jisung draped his body over Minho and the others sat in whatever place they wanted to be. 

The Livestream had started and the boys' eyes were glued to the screen. They rarely had time to actually play League of Legends, given the circumstances of their careers, so watching it whenever they could was the next best thing. Felix began chewing on the crust of his slice and all of a sudden, the stream had turned black, causing him to nearly choke on the crust in shock. 

The others groaned in annoyance as Chan got up. "I got the lights, wait a sec..." 

Just as the lights turned on, Jeongin noticed something on the screen while the others were whining about the stream to each other. He leapt over Changbin and approached the monitor, to make sure that what he was seeing on the screen was actually there, and not something got to do with the television.

Jeongin began to question two things. One, why was there a small null symbol in the corner of the screen. And two, why was the stream chat still going? If the Livestream had been shut down or crashed, then the chat would've gone down with it, right?

Chan noticed Jeongin staring at the monitor with a confused expression and he approached the maknae. "Is everything okay, Jeongin-ah?"

"Hyung, there's something wrong here, there has to be. The chat of the Livestream is still going, and there's a null symbol in the corner of the screen." The others had begun to catch on to what Jeongin was saying and some crowded around the monitor emitting the strange symbol.

"It's probably something on our end if the chat is still going," Minho suggested from the other side of the room, who was unplugging the HDMI from the television.

"You're probably right..." Chan muttered, ignoring the null symbol for the time being. He double clicked on the monitor's terminal and waited. If he found something wrong with their side then he could configure it and they would be on their merry way. 

Chan's stomach dropped when the terminal finally decided to open. 

Someone muttered a "Shit..." but the leader didn't bother to turn around and see who it was. His eyes were fixated on the terminal.

 

"S H A L L   W E   P L A Y    A    G A M E ? - ⦰"

 

"We should take this to JYP hyung..."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to get into the nitty-gritty of this fic lmao.  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	3. Null

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JYP leaves some questions unanswered.

Park Jinyoung was sitting in his office up to his eyeballs in emails, voice memos and encrypted chats. Things weren't going like he had planned when it came to helping that cell phone company, and how he was paying the price. He held his head in his hands and sighed, it was going to be a long week for everybody. There had been a security breach of one of the most popular cell phone companies in Korea, meaning that huge amounts of people's personal data was being stolen and perhaps even sold. The company had requested JYP's assistance with good pay, so how could they say no?

His attention was brought to a tiny knock on the door. He quickly sat up. "Enter!" He relaxed once he saw Chan enter the room, bowing as he the automatic door closed behind him. He sat back in his chair, "Chan-ah! Stray kids! what can I do for you on this fine evening?"

The Australian cleared this throat and began to unlock his phone. "The kids and I were watching a Livestream earlier but It got shut down. We thought it was something on our end so we decided to investigate." He handed the elder his phone with pictures of the terminal and the null symbol on the screen. "This showed up, we got a link too but nobody clicked on it, I don't think so anyway."

The man looked at the screen carefully and he felt his heart stop. This had to be a joke or some kind, right? There was no way that  _they_ were back. They had been destroyed long ago. This had to be a joke

"Um, hyung?" Jinyoung's attention was brought back to Chan, who was looking at him eagerly. "Do you know what it means?"

Jinyoung gave him his phone back. "Don't ever speak about this to anybody. Do you think this is some kind of joke? some kind of sick prank?" He exclaimed with an angry tone.

Chan blinked. "I don't quite understand?" Jinyoung looked him in the eye. He wasn't lying when he said he didn't understand.

Jinyoung sighed. "You see that symbol? That symbol was the trademark of a black hat group called NULL. They were good for nothing psychos, Chan-ah. Dangerous people. We helped to take them down for good. Do you remember the data breach of 2015?" Chan nodded, interested in what his senior was saying. "That was them, they were trying to get information on us but failed."

He paused for a moment. "As I said, we destroyed every last bit of their server room and we called the FBI. So I wouldn't worry about this. This is probably somebody in the company trying to play a prank. NULL is merely a horror story, an urban legend."

Chan still wasn't quite sure. The company had taken down other black hat groups before, without any issues. So why was JYP looking so...concerned? NULL seemed like something that could be worth looking into.

"Are you sure, hyung? maybe something survived. Maybe we can hunt them down again!"

"No, Chan-ah." Jinyoung said softly. "Believe me when I say this, but there is no point. NULL no longer exists. Now, no more questions. I have some work I need to attend to."

"But hyun-"

"Go, Chan." Jinyoung cut him off, a little louder this time. Chan nodded, before exiting the room. As he was walking down the stairs, he felt a buzz in his pocket.

 

 **Y.G:** _Hey Chan. I saw you heading down to the bosses office earlier, everything okay? I thought you hated him lol_

 **B.C:**   _Hey. I had to ask him about something me and the guys found. He said it was something got to do with a group called NULL but he told me to drop it._

 **B.B:**   NULL?  _For real? Send a pic 0-0_

 **B.C:**   _Attachment sent_

 **B.C:** _Do you guys know anything about this thing?_

 **Y.G:**   _Stop by our place, we gotta talk about this ASAP. Jyp isn't gonna tell you shit._

The leader couldn't say no to that, and he turned around and went up the stairs again, upstairs to GOT7's. Bambam and Yugyeom were the first people he had befriended within the company and the three had remained close ever since, despite being in completely different factions. Jaebum had mutual respect for Chan as they were both leaders, and he felt his pain when it came to looking after other people.

He had forgotten the password to their room, it was constantly changing as Jackson had planted a bug in it while experimenting. Chan knocked a little and the door opened instantly to reveal a black haired giant. "Sit your ass down."

"Yugyeom-ah! Don't be rude!" Jinyoung's familiar voice filled the room as Chan followed Yugyeom to the couches. GOT7's dorm was a lot nicer than Stray Kid's. They were higher up in the company anyway, both age-wise and skill wise, so it made sense that they had a nicer living space. Jinyoung spotted him as they were walking past. "Long time no see."

Yugyeom rolled his eyes. "He was literally here yesterday, hyung." Jinyoung rolled his eyes back and BamBam walked into the living area, fist bumping Chan on the way to the couch. "Cmon Channie, spill, what happened?"

Chan shrugged. "About the terminal? I don't even know. One minute we were watching a Livestream and then it all just went black. I opened the terminal to see if I could check for anything and I just found...that." Yugyeom opened his phone and began to examine the photos Chan had sent him.

"What did the boss tell you?" BamBam questioned as he began stroking the dorm's dog, Coco. Chan shrugged again. "Not much really. He said that they were a black hat group that were very dangerous, but it's okay because it's just more of an urban legend now. He reckons that someone was pranking us."

Yugyeom rolled his eyes. "Typical JYP, being all cryptic. I'll give it to you straight, Chan-ah." He paused for a moment and shuffled a little closer to the Australian, as if they were kids sharing a secret. "NULL are more than dangerous. They're radical. They operate mainly on the dark web and have been involved in drugs, kidnapping, mass cyber attacks and stuff with...children. Believe me when I say this. Nobody in this company would ever joke about NULL, ever."

Chan turned to Bambam as if to confirm what the tallest had said, and he nodded. "He's right, Channie. Nobody would ever joke about it. It was so serious at the time, one of the most dangerous operations that had been completed by JYP. We were pretty involved in it for a while."

Yugyeom continued. "We got involved because JYP thought we were skilled enough. Jaebum hyung was completely against the idea but we had to go with it anyway. Bambam and I were asked to be bait for the operation and that's when hyung pulled GOT7 out. We had gotten pretty far with just our hacking alone. That operation was the operation to take them down for good."

Chan nodded, completely in shock that JYP had refused to tell him any of this. "Why was JB hyung so scared? It's not like you guys are defenceless."

Bambam sighed. "I don't wanna freak you out. But while NULL goes after pretty much everybody they can get their hands on, they like going after younger people. Like teenagers and stuff. That's why Jaebum hyung didn't like the operation. Hell, he didn't even want Youngjae hyung to get involved, that's how worried he was. A bunch of the girls from TWICE weren't allowed either."

Yugyeom picked up. "That's why we called you up here, your faction is the youngest in the company and you deserve to know what went down."

Chan's face went pale, paler than usual. He began rubbing his hands off his jeans. "So what you're saying is that NULL is back, and they're targeting my group because we're younger?" 

"Bingo."

Chan cursed under his breath and ran his hands through his hair. His faction was wild, they were all still kids, they ran around and caused mayhem without thinking of the consequences. They were prime targets, young and energetic. "Why is JYP hyung lying to me anyway?"

"I think it's a guilt thing. A lot of deaths could have been prevented if things were done differently. He probably just wants to forget about it, all of us do." Bambam answered.

"Just do what we did and stay the fuck away," Yugyeom replied. "Look, maybe if one of us talk to JYP hyung he might listen and take extra security measures for your team. This group is no joke, Channie. We don't want anything happening to you or your kids. You guys can be annoying but you're still cool."

Chan chuckled slightly. "Okay. I'll take your word."

Jaebum entered the room with a bag, the contents unknown. "Channie-ah! Nice to see you again." 

"You too, hyung" Chan smiled back as he began to exit the dorm. Jaebum grabbed his wrist before he made it to the door. "By the way. Can you tell whoever it is in your dorm to stop flying drones into the server room? It's really annoying."

"On it," Chan replied, not sure if he should be annoyed or angry, or both.

 

The lights were still on when Chan got back.  _Damn, they must've been as curious as I was about this._ He opened the door carefully to see his group playing a game of UNO, something they did to pass the time. "Channie-hyung's back!" Jeongin said, and the others turned to their leader. "Well, did JYP hyung say anything?" Felix questioned. Chan sat down beside the group who were eager to listen.

"He didn't tell me much. He told me that this was the symbol for a black hat group called NULL. Apparently, they were taken down a few years ago by the FBI. But I was talking with BamBam and Yugyeom and they told me more."  _Should I be telling them this? They won't sleep until every last piece of equipment in this room is either locked down or destroyed. No. They deserve to know._

"Go on..." Minho said, Jisung locked in his arms and Seungmin looking over his shoulder.

"They operate on the dark web. They are heavily involved in Drugs, Rape, Kidnapping and all that bad stuff. Yugyeom and Bambam advised us to stay away. They like to mess with younger people the most."

The room fell into an awkward silence. Nobody really knew what to say, considering they had just found out they were prime targets for a dangerous hacker group.

Woojin could sense their fear, their confusion. "But JYP hyung will sort it out. Right?"

"JYP hyung thought it was a joke. But Yugyeomie said that he would ask around and see if he could talk with JYP hyung for some extra security measures, only if needed of course."

Changbin spoke up. "If this group is extremely dangerous and going after the younger people of Korea, shouldn't we be trying to take them down? This could be happening right under our noses and here we are, doing nothing."

A few heads nodded and a few people started talking in agreement, But Chan shut it down. "While I usually would agree with you, Changbin-ah, this is out of our control right now. I don't think we have the numbers or resources to be tackling this head on. The FBI handled it last time, so I think we should just drop it and let them handle it."

Changbin frowned, as did a few others. The leader didn't quite know what to do. He wanted to go after this group as much as the next person, but there was too much at stake. Identities, data,  _lives._ "I  think we should head to bed. It's getting late and we gotta take the early shift."

Somebody groaned, it sounded like Felix but Chan wasn't sure. Hyunjin got up, the others soon following. All except Woojin, who was patiently sitting on the couch.

The two were in silence for what seemed like forever until Woojin spoke. "I know there's something wrong, Chan-ah. There's more to this, isn't there?"

Chan sighed and sat down beside the eldest. "I didn't want to scare them too much. Yugyeom and Bambam looked so concerned even just talking about it. I don't think this is a joke, hyung. I'm fucking terrified. For us, for the company."

Woojin placed a soothing hand on Chan's back. "There's nothing we can do, Channie-ah. As long as we stay away we should be fine."

"They go after kids, hyung! Fucking kids! We're basically a full course meal for those bastards. Binnie is right, why aren't we trying to stop them?" He replied a little louder. He quietened down once he realized how loud he was talking. 

"Look, the further we get into this, the more risky things get. Which is why I think we should stay out of it."

Chan gave up on trying to argue. He stood up and sluggishly walked to the bunks. Changbin was in with Hyunjin, nothing new there. Felix looked like he was going to fall out of the top bunk and Chan was startled when he saw Jeongin, sitting upright in his bed. "Jeez, Innie. You scared me."

"Is it true about what you said?" The youngest began. "About us being targeted." 

Chan said down beside the youngest. "There's nothing to worry 'bout Innie. Just go to sleep. Hyung's will keep you safe."

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everybody is enjoying this so far! Happy new year :)  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	4. Overextend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeongin decides to dig deeper into NULL, While Minho goes a bit too far.

Jeongin peered over his monitor to see if his teacher was moving from his desk and breathed a sigh of relief. His oblivious senior was still taking attendance on the computer while the students worked. 

Jeongin hated school as much as the next person, but it offered him many opportunities in order to improve his research skills, as that was his primary job within Stray Kids. He had taken an I.T class as an extracurricular activity to put his time in school to good use. One day he would be seen as a hacker, and not just some script kiddie bullshit.

"Get on with your work" The shout of his teacher brought him back to reality. The students who were talking immediately turned around and continued with their projects. Jeongin plugged in the USB Chan had designed for him.  _Sorry, sir. I think this is a lot more important than a project on our favourite book._

The school's network was monitored constantly to ensure that students weren't slacking or searching up "inappropriate" content, an incognito search wouldn't do the trick as it would still be spotted. Chan had given Jeongin a Rubber Ducky USB with a specially programmed VPN, to ensure security while researching.

Keeping a careful eye on his teacher he opened up Google.  _If this group is so feared by JYP, surely they would've left some damage behind them._

It didn't take Jeongin long to find many news articles on the group. Some were more graphic than others, but he didn't need information from filtered social media. He needed solid information, evidence that this group was as dangerous as they seemed.

"Jeongin-ssi. He's coming." He didn't turn around to see who warned him at first. With lighting speed, he opened a new window and started to type the first Harry Potter novel that came to his head. He could feel his teacher's stare burning into the back of his skull. Jeongin held his breath. _Please don't check, please don't check, please don't check..._

Jeongin let his breath go once the teacher walked passed and he turned around in his chair to see his friend, Lee Chunso. Jeongin quickly turned around to see if the teacher was looking. "Thank you" he mouthed.

"You owe me" He hissed back with a mischievous grin. Jeongin raised his eyebrow and turned back around. It amazed Jeongin how the boy was still able to smile, considering that his family were dealing with a missing child.

Chunso's sister, Yoona, had been missing for nearly three weeks. She was a shy, reserved thirteen year old who was a lot stronger and smarter than she let on, it was a surprise to everyone that she had been reported missing.Their family was absolutely devastated, but considering the fact that their daughter and sister was missing they were taking it well, posting on social media whenever they could and putting up posters to assist their search. The Lee's were strong people, and Jeongin believed that with all his heart.

He returned his attention back to the computer screen. Looking up an official government or police document seemed like the best option. It was worth a shot, considering the lack of trust Jeongin had in general media. After filtering his search, a .PDF file was finally discovered.

Jeongin's eyes grazed over the writing, picking up a few keywords.  _Zero-day, stolen, children, elderly, bruising, internal bleeding, experimentation..._

Today was going to be a long day.

 

Minho sighed and pushed away from his desk, launching the swivel chair he was sitting in across the room. The others were upstairs working on the cell company situation, which was everybody's priority at this point in time. Hell, even GOT7 were working on it, something like this would be a walk in the park for them. Minho had handed in the most useful information he could find, therefore he wasn't really needed anymore. It didn't bother him, he had done his job to the best of his ability, nothing more, nothing less.

He used his legs to pull himself back to the monitor, where he had been browsing an underground forum. It was a hobby of his, exploiting people who thought they could get away with bragging online. Bragging about beating their wives, hijacking moving cars, stalking young girls, the list went on. Minho considered himself a vigilante of some kind, a vigilante that went by the online alias, "Lee Know"

He had found another target, someone who went by the name "vin+age" on a small forum. Minho stared in disgust as he read about how this person had started to beat his two year old son because he wouldn't be quiet while he was playing poker. It didn't take long for Minho to decide that this bastard needed to be taught a lesson. He clicked into his profile to find the first clues as to how he could shut him up.

Nothing.

Black.

Minho frowned and wiggled his mouse around to find the cursor. Nothing.

_What the hell is going on?_

Before he could even think of what to do next, a small, black terminal appeared on the screen. Nothing else seemed to be there, it was like his entire desktop had been deleted. A small piece of text appeared in the terminal.

: **H͕͉͠e̻l͇̞͈͍l̫͍̩̹o͔̩**

Minho stared in disbelief.  _Someone has remote access to our fucking terminal._ He couldn't think of anything else to do except type back to whatever, or  _whoever_ was talking to him.

= **Hi**

**:Sh͖̭̫a͏̺̱̜͓͖̖ļ̭̘l ̞͎̣̬͞w̡͍͎̦̲e̶̬͇̲̼ͅ ̘̜̺͍͜p̠l̬͕̕a̛͔y̷͎̙̥ ͘a͈͍̦̥̜͝ ̧̝̹͓g̛̰̜͎͈̙͍͈a̷̦̙m̟͔̭̬͜e?̨̟**

Flashbacks of the night of the Livestream started to fill his head. The night that their terminal had been opened seemingly on its own.  _NULL?_

**=I'd rather not, thanks. I have better things to be doing.**

Whoever or whatever was on the other side didn't respond for a while. Minho chuckled to himself.  _Who knew that it would be this easy to get a psycho group off your back._ He thought about unplugging the monitor, but something inside him told him not to, to just wait.

Whatever it was that told him to wait was right. A new window had popped up. It looked like something pulled straight from LiveLeak. Then he realized something.  _This is a security camera, this isn't a tape, this is broadcasting right this second._

The security camera footage showed a group of students huddled around computers, doing schoolwork he assumed. The camera was angled particularly at one student. A student with shiny braces and dark hair.

_Jeongin_

_Oh no, no no no..._

_Some freak has hacked into his school's network somehow. Why? What did Jeongin do? Leave him alone..._

The terminal had a new string of words inserted into it.

**:A̟̞͓̱ͅr͓e̵͉̬̖ ̲͈̝̙̫yo͏̖̹̯̩̲u͍̬̫̮ ͕͙̜̱su̵͈̪̖̪r̯e̖̹̦?̗̙̹͍̘̳̹̕**

_Well, considering you're hacking into my youngest friend's schooling system, I don't really have a choice, do I?_

**=Let's play, bitch.**

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School starts too soon for my liking, so apologies if updates start to slow down from here on out.  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	5. Trapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It couldn't be ignored this time.

 

The common room was full of life, which was the exact opposite of it's usual serious tone. The data breach had finally started to turn in the hackers' favour, and they decided to take a well deserved break.

Jae swerved passed a group of girls who he nearly ran in to before reaching the beanbag he had been eyeing up all morning. This beanbag was placed beside the area that Stray Kids usually occupied. While they didn't mind anybody hanging out with them, Jae felt awkward every single time he had to go over there. He didn't know what made it that way, he narrowed it down to their age difference and the fact that he would probably be considered an old man in their eyes.

He practically fell into the beanbag and groaned, the canteen was out of coffee and he hadn't been sleeping great. He rolled over and was greeted with a small, squirrel looking boy. Jae knew it was Jisung, but it took him a while for his sleepy brain to actually remember his name. He was always able to remember Jisung. He reminded Jae of his friend Younghyun for some reason, otherwise known by his alias, "YoungK" 

"Hey, Jae hyung! You look dead." Jisung greeted while the others turned to greet him too. Hyunjin was sitting on the table with his legs crossed, Chan was sitting on the armchair in the corner, Woojin had the chair opposite Chan's one, while Felix occupied the other beanbag. 

"I feel dead too if I'm honest." Jae ruffled Jisung's hair and sat up. "How did you guys find that whole mess?"

"Boring," Felix said simply, the sun from the window lighting up his freckled face. "It was a boring mess."

Jae chuckled. "Get used to it, kid. Nothing exciting ever happens around here anymore. I can't remember the last time I actually had fun hacking."

"That's kinda sad, hyung." Hyunjin sighed as he began to unlock his phone.

"Yeah, it is. You guys aren't boring though, you're the only thing that keeps this place alive, to tell the truth." Jae wasn't lying when he said it. The younger ones always brought a certain aura to the community. They kept everything fresh, exciting, not to mention funny. The pranks that they pulled were Jae's favourite part of the week.

"You really think so?" Chan replied, knowing very well that their reputation wasn't the best. 

"Yeah, ask anybody. You're always keeping us on our toes, it's hilarious. Remember the whole drone thing?" 

"That was my idea," Jisung stated proudly. He had been dumpster diving when he found the broken drone and decided to fix it up for the faction, thinking it might come in handy one day. It came in handy for something all right, for pranks.

Chan rolled his eyes at the younger before his phone's ringtone started to go off. His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, he wasn't expecting a call and usually, he would only communicate through text. He pulled out his phone and the name "Minho" flashed on the screen.  _What would Minho want? I thought he was downstairs..._

He answered the call and placed a finger against his ear to dampen the noise from the common room. "Minho-ah? What's up?"

There was a short silence before Minho finally answered. "G-Get down here, now. It's urgent."

Chan paused, Minho's voice sounded strange, it sounded...scared. "How urgent are we talking? We need to get back to work pretty soon."

"NULL urgent."

That was the final straw. Chan jumped up from his seat, ended the call and turned to Hyunjin. "Go find Binnie and tell him to come downstairs." Was all he said before leaving the corner, practically running as he did. The others looked at each other in confusion but didn't question their leader. Hyunjin raced to find Changbin, while the others followed Chan rather reluctantly, leaving Jae on his own. 

His faction, Day6, had seen what had happened, how the corner just went from full to empty in a matter of seconds. Sungjin shot Jae a puzzled look, and Jae just shrugged his shoulders as he got up and went back to his team.

"What was that all about?" Younghyun said as he began to unwrap a piece of chewing gum.

"No idea. Chan got a phone call and ran out the door. Whatever it was it sounded serious." Jae sat down beside Dowoon who had his headphones on, oblivious to what had just happened.

Sungjin chuckled. "What could they have to worry about? They're so young."

"Leave them alone, hyung. Everybody is dealing with something nowadays." Wonpil replied as he watched Hyunjin and Changbin practically dive out the door.

 

"What the hell did you do, Minho?!"

"Let me explain, hyung!" Minho shrieked back at the leader, who was absolutely livid at the sight of Minho interacting with a supposed NULL member. The remaining members of the faction were silent, in shock or fear? Chan couldn't tell. Minho swallowed and sat down at the desk.

Everyone huddled around the monitor with the "evidence" on it. It showed multiple open terminals, an offline security camera and a keylogger, ready to be inserted somewhere. The terminals had everything in them, from IP addresses to RATs. Whatever situation Minho had gotten himself into looked messy to say the least. He had a lot of explaining to do, and fast.

"Do you want the bad news or the really bad news?" Minho asked the group, still looking at the monitor closely.

"The bad news, I guess?" Chan replied.

"Well. Someone must've planted a RAT or Keylogger of some kind into our system, I was thinking through the network. They wouldn't have been able to open anything otherwise." He explained, still sounding unsure of what he was saying. 

"How do you know it was a person? It could've just been a Bot trying to mess with us." Jisung suggested, taking a closer look at the screen for himself.

"I thought so too until they started...talking to me." Minho started to pull out his phone. "They got so much, they were jumping from place to place trying to get intel. They even got into cameras..."

Minho handed his phone to Woojin, who was the closest to him. Woojin's eyes widened as he swiped through the photos that Minho had taken of the screen. "That was the stuff that kept coming up before I tried to fight back." 

"Oh my god, that's Innie..." Woojin said with disgust. Their maknae was the least threatening of them all, yet whoever was behind this act decided to target his school. He swiped through a few more photos before handing the phone to Chan.

"What do you mean when you said you fought back, hyung?" Hyunjin asked. 

"I thought that maybe if there was something in our system I could isolate it, or at least find out where it was coming from. I tried to counter-hack whoever is on the other side on another monitor, but it's untraceable. Polymorphic code, I'm guessing." 

Chan stared in horror at the pictures on Minho's phone while the others discussed what was on the screen. Whoever this person was, they were taunting them. Taunting them with nearby IP addresses, Polymorphic code, RATs, their members' _safety_. "Threats."

"When do Jeongin and Seungmin get home from school?" Felix asked, arms folded.

"Around four, why?" Chan replied. "And no, you aren't taking them out early. We're just as worried as you are, Lix. But they've been missing school too much, they're graduating soon after all."

Felix frowned, annoyed that the leader had caught onto his plan. He knew very well that he wouldn't relax until they were home. Changbin wrapped his arm around Felix's shoulders. "They'll be fine, Lix. They'll be fine."

Minho wasn't feeling good, especially after the ordeal, so he was ordered to lie down by Woojin while Chan took over the monitor, trying to investigate further and take more photos. Jisung grabbed a chair and sat in it with the back facing his chest. 

"Hyung?"

Chan hummed in reply, not taking his eyes away from the screen.

"Do we tell Innie that, ya know? he was being watched?"

Chan turned to Jisung, thinking about the question for a moment. "I think that's something we keep to ourselves, Sungie. This is scary enough as it is." Jisung simply nodded, contemplating whether or not that would be the right decision. He couldn't imagine what it would be like being told: "Hey, not to scare you or anything, but a top-secret murder group hacked into your school's camera and can now watch your every move while you're in the building."

 

The younger ones finally returned home in one piece. One more hour and Felix would've had a heart attack. They didn't even get a chance to put their school books down before Hyunjin approached them, saying that there was a "family emergency"

Jeongin turned to Seungmin. "What is this gonna be all about?"

Seungmin shrugged. "No idea, the only thing I can really think of is a scolding because of our pranks." He placed his books on his bed and removed his blazer.

The group sat around the coffee table whenever something serious had to be discussed. For some reason, all serious conversations always ended up around that coffee table, everybody just gravitated towards it.

With everybody situated around the table, Chan began to explain. "So, I'm sure that we're all aware of this from earlier. We're being threatened."

Seungmin and Jeongin looked at each other, then back at their leader. "By who?"

"NULL. I'll explain it in detail to you two later, but all you have to know it that we're being threatened, and...I think one of our systems has been compromised."

The room fell into silence. What was there to say anyway? There was no way out of this. They were being threatened directly by NULL, who had remote access to one of their monitors. Pivoting was inevitable unless they set the system on fire and threw it in a trash can, or something along those lines.

"If they want a fight, I say we give them a fight," Changbin's voice filled the room. "It's obvious that they want something from us. Money, data, body parts, I don't know. But the point is they could be pivoting through our network as we speak."

"Binnie has a point, we might as well get to them before they get to us, right?" Hyunjin sided with Changbin. It was strange, despite his quite forceful method of hacking, Hyunjin liked to stay passive. Now that he was siding with Changbin on a perhaps deadly trail, it was a wake up call to everyone.

"Imagine if we actually find something on them. We would go down in history! I can see the headlines now." Jisung smirked, showing no fear.

"Keep your dick in your pants, Jisung-ah, we haven't even decided yet." Minho turned to Chan. "What do you think?"

The room went silent again, everyone eager to hear what their leader had to say. "I see where you guys are coming from. Last time I went to JYP hyung it didn't go so well, If we do accept their game I have a feeling we'll be on our own. This won't be like what we're doing upstairs. This is dangerous. Do you understand that?"

Everyone nodded, some reluctantly. "If we have all hands on deck, we can potentially get something that can help us to take down NULL. This isn't a playground anymore, we need to be serious about this." Chan looked up. "I'm looking at you, Sungie."

The squirrel smirked but nodded in agreement, the drone was getting boring anyway.

"I'm serious. This is more than just a digital fight. Don't go out alone, always have your phone on you, if you see anything weird don't try to investigate. I'm not losing any of you."

The leader sighed. "Let the games begin."

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jae is a relatable teen, i swear.  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	6. Suspicions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stray kids bunker down, but others start to notice.

It had been a few days, and GOT7 noticed something was wrong the minute Stray Kids walked into the common room after being rarely seen for nearly a week. It was eerily quiet. No laughing, no joking around. They looked absolutely exhausted, yawning every 10 seconds and sporting dark, baggy eyes. Yugyeom felt sleepy just by looking at them. Hyunjin kept looking over his shoulder as they huddled in their usual circle.

They were talking very quietly.  _"This isn't Stray Kids whatsoever."_ Jaebum thought. For once, he wasn't enjoying the silence. It felt awkward, uncalled for.

"I wonder what they've been up to," Yugyeom's attention was brought back to Mark, who had coffee for the group. He placed the tray on the table before sitting down between Youngjae and Jackson.

"I don't know. Is it just me or do they look like the whole world is against them right now?" Bambam said, trying to not make it obvious that he was looking over at them. Youngjae however, wasn't picking up on the social cue and kept looking over. They looked miserable.

"You're not wrong, Bam. Did something happen? Did someone say something?"

Jaebum shifted in his seat. "I told them to stop fucking around in the server room. Maybe they're upset?" Jaebum was aware that he wasn't  _that_ approachable, maybe he had come off the wrong way when he told them to stop.

Jackson scoffed. "They aren't toddlers, hyung. They wouldn't look like they were on death's doorstep because of that."

Jaebum shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. "It was just a suggestion."

Yugyeom poked the Thai boy's leg from under the table. Bambam looked over and Yugyeom shot him a look. A look of "I don't like what's going on here."  _I guess we're telepathic or some shit._

"C'mon Gyeomie, walkies," Bambam said as if he was talking to a baby. The others laughed while Yugyeom rolled his eyes. 

"Where are you two going?" Jinyoung questioned. Bambam and Yugyeom alone usually meant trouble, they had learned that the hard way.

"I left something in the dorm." Bambam lied as he stood up and shuffled between the chairs to get out. He walked out of the common room with Yugyeom at his side. 

They didn't even bother to walk very far outside the door. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking? I'm getting bad vibes about this." Bambam asked the maknae.

"What? that the canteen is out of orange juice?"

"What? No! I meant about Stray Kids. They actually look like a bunch of stray kids. They haven't been out of their dorm for like a week at best. There's something wrong."

Yugyeom thought about it for a moment. They did look pretty tired, and Jaebum's theory wasn't a good one. 

"NULL?"

"Finally, your brain cells are returning."

"Whatever. Chan isn't stupid, Bammie, and he sure as hell wouldn't let his team get involved either. He's way too protective over them."

Yugyeom had a point. They wouldn't just go charging in recklessly, but something was telling Bambam that whatever was going on in the Stray Kids dorm wasn't good.

"Okay, maybe Channie did listen to us, but there's still something off."

Yugyeom sighed. "Maybe you're right. Look, unless they start showing up with broken legs and bruised knuckles I think we should just stay out of it. They would've come to one of us by now, they usually do." Yugyeom started to open the door again. "I don't think we should tell the others about it. Jaebum hyung won't let this slide. I'll feel sorry for the kids if he finds out, he won't leave them alone.

Bambam simply nodded, maybe he was just overthinking.

 

Dowoon had finally managed to get away from his friend's who had begged him to stay for drinks. Normally, he would have stayed but tonight wasn't a good night to be out. There was lot's of work to be done, work that required sobriety. He swiped his key and the door unlocked. It was late but the lights were still on in the hallway. 

He couldn't see who it was at first, but someone had bumped into him. Whoever it was, they felt small. Smaller than him anyway. 

"Oof, sorry Dowoon-sunbaenim." Dowoon recognized the deep voice. It was Felix, Felix from Stray Kids. 

"No worries, what are you doing up so late?" 

The boy looked tired, which gave Dowoon a reason to be suspicious. 

"Just going for a walk. I can't really sleep."  _Bullshit._ Dowoon wasn't usually good at reading people, but this was just a joke. Felix needed to work on his lying if he actually wanted to get past anyone.

He decided to push the conversation further. "Skiz hasn't been around in a while, what are you doing? taking over the government or something?" He chuckled.

Felix's face went bright red, which actually surprised Dowoon. "Wait, are you actually overthrowing the government?"

The boy blinked. "What, no! We're just...I don't know. I gotta go."

And with that, he turned around and went back downstairs.  _Okay, two thing's I've learned. One, Felix is a terrible liar and two, there's some top secret shit going down in that dorm room._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have my mock exams in like three weeks I'm gonna dieeeeee. But anyway I hope you guys are enjoying this so far. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, don't be afraid to leave them in the comments. I'm not gonna bite :)  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	7. Taunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, taunting is the best way to break someone.

_Is this ever going to fucking end?_

_We've been stuck down here for days, getting nowhere, chasing something that leaves no trace._

_I'm scared._

 

 

Changbin was the first to wake up, it was still dark outside. He felt around for his phone, accidentally slapping someone's arm in the process. He later found out that he had slapped Hyunjin, but that was fine, that boy could sleep through a nuclear war if he wanted to.

**3:49 AM**

_Fuck, what time did we start at?_

Changbin sat up and looked around the room, the light from their monitors being the only light source. A mess, that was the only way he could've described their condition right now. Redbull cans littered the floor, along with random USBs and cables. Someone had quite literally shoved the sofa closer to the monitor, it was occupied by Woojin, Jisung tucked safely beside him. Everything felt so cramped, hot, dirty. Changbin didn't enjoy it one bit.

_How did it come to this, our lives centering around one single monitor?_

As if on cue, the monitor lit up, not with a black terminal, but with a webpage. Changbin was tired, but it wasn't something that should be ignored in his mind. After everything that had happened during the past week, nothing could've surprised him anymore.

At least, that's what he thought as he approached the screen.

Changbin didn't recognize the search engine that was being used. They had worked on many before, but this one wasn't in any index he could think of. 

_It's too fucking early for this._

A smaller window had popped up, it featured a countdown, it was counting down from five minutes. Changbin's eyes widened with confusion.  _Five minutes 'till what?_

**4̡̠:̞͉̠ͅ3͚̲̭̫3̣̘͎̳ ̴Ưn̰̭t͓͚̤̩̰i̹͙̪̤̪̬l͎̹̜͓̜̗͞ͅ ̣̥̫̺T̘h͍̼̫̬͍̗̞e͖͖ ̞̰̰̱͎̲̲S̶͉h͏̰o͙͎̮͇̣͉w̜̳̟̗̗ ̸̰̱͓̠̯S̛̱ͅţ̖̰͖̟̹̫a͍̣̕r̖̪t̳͎̯̳̫͘s̱̟̩̼͈͇͜**

**4̣̙:̰̜̹̲3͏̩̺2̰̙̙̙̲̮**

**4̩̠̱͈̥̜̹:̡̬3̡1̫**

 

Four minutes was all Changbin needed. "Everybody. Up. Something's fucking happening, get up. It's go time."

Luckily enough, Chan was already semi-awake, and upon seeing Changbin's panic-stricken expression, he suddenly didn't feel very tired anymore and began to wake Felix, who had been sleeping at his side. One look at the monitor told him that something was wrong.

"C'mon, Lix. You gotta get up." 

Nothing.

"Felix, get up."

It took a few shakes but Felix groaned and rolled to his side to face the leader, he could barely open his eyes. "What time is it?"

Felix didn't even get an answer, Chan had already moved onto Jisung and Minho. 

"Seungmin-ah I swear to god, I will strangle you with this ethernet cable, now rise and shine," Changbin yelled at the second youngest, before checking back at the monitor. 

**2͏͉̠̪͙ͅ:3̤̳3̝̘̮̠͎̦͍**

 

Chan had finally managed to pry Jisung off of Minho, and Jeongin had already gotten to work on waking Hyunjin. Woojin stood up and started to click around on the screen, nothing was moving, nothing was happening except that damn countdown. The mouse was proving to be useless, so the eldest started thinking of as many keyboard commands as possible. ALT + F4 and CTRL + ALT+ DELETE were both obsolete. It was like the keyboard drivers had completely stopped functioning.

"Nothing is working, not even the keyboard." 

Somebody swore under their breath, Hyunjin was finally beginning to open his eyes, much to everyone's disbelief.

**0̮:5̳̣̱9͜**

The group stood there in fear, mesmerized by the countdown. 

"What do we do now? We can't get rid of the window." Felix said flatly. 

"No way, Einstein." Minho scoffed. "We're just gonna have to watch the "Show" I guess, anybody have popcorn?"

Minho's attempt at humour wasn't helping the situation, the countdown was coming to a close, nobody dared to even breathe let alone move. 

**0̩̤̳:̟͍0̶̯̤͇̹̠̤3̫̥̥͇͍͟**

 

**0͔̹:̩̖̮͚̕0̛̜̻̤͍͎̟2̬̳̮͈̭͓ͅ**

 

**0͇͓̰̱̞͢:͙͖0̮̰̻̱1̕**

 

**0̧̲͉̳̪̜͚:̮̲̘̟0͈̖͙̣̘̮̱0̩**

 

...

A Livestream.

It showed a dark room, but the group could instantly tell that this wasn't security camera footage, this was coming from a webcam. The bad quality of the video was a dead giveaway. Shuffling could be heard in the video, but nothing visible was on screen yet, only a dark room lit up by night vision.

Woojin broke the silence. "As long as this thing keeps broadcasting, we can track the IP address of whoever owns this computer."

Someone shouted something along the lines of "Hyung! You're a fucking genius!" But before anyone could move, a figure entered the Livestream. A girl with long, jet black hair who looked to be around Chan's age was just standing there, staring into their souls. Just her presence in the Livestream alone made Chan feel guilty.  _She probably got into this mess because of us._

"Hello, is there anybody there?" She called out.

"We need to start tracking that IP." Hyunjin booted up a second monitor as the one broadcasting was useless.

The group once again got distracted by something on the screen, a tiny black terminal popped up. 

**A͍͎r̜̜̥̳͟e̹͈n̺̩͘'̵͈̰̙͉͈t̫͈̼̩ y͍̺͞o̙̻̗̮̺u͖̰̦͚͔͠ͅ ̥͠g̝̼͍̞̘͓͙o̧̟̯̳̬i̞̹n̨̥g̩̝͚̼̻̰͚͞ ͍̼̣̙̲t̻͇̬̳̜͝ͅo̝̲͚ ͏̻͚̭̗s̢͖̰̭̖̹͈a̖y̗̳͚͡ ̨̖h͕̮̪̰el̶l̵͇̞͓̜͇͖̗o̺̘͇̘̫͕͕?̴͓̝͚̤̦̪̲**

 

 

"She can hear us?" Jisung questioned, looking at the monitor. Out of curiosity, he plugged in a pair of earphones and inserted one side into his ear, he lifted the microphone piece to his mouth and pressed down. 

"Hello? Can you hear me?" 

The woman's face lit up. "Yes, I can hear you. Where am I? Why am I here?" The others were actually surprised that the microphone worked.

Jisung looked around at the others. "What the hell do I say?"

"Just tell her that you don't know, but you're working on getting her out," Chan instructed, sitting down beside the squirrel. He pressed down on the microphone again. "I don't know why you're in there, but I'm gonna get you out, okay?" Jisung paused and then pressed down again. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Eunha"

"Hey Eunha-ssi, I'm Jisung. Do you remember anything before entering the room?" Jisung turned around and motioned for the others to hurry up with finding the IP. He now knew this girl's name. She was a real person. a real,  _breathing_ human in real time. Not a computer. And she was in danger.

Jisung and Chan kept Eunha occupied with questions and reassurance, while the others frantically tried to trace the IP of whoever was hosting this livestream.

"Hyung, I don't know how long this is gonna take..."  Seungmin turned to Chan, biting his lips with anxiety. 

**T̘̗̫͠im̰̤̭̺̼͜e̘̣̙̰̰͙̤ ̨̙̞͖ͅI͉̲̯͝ͅs͙͙͎̪ P̴̫̼̳r͎̮̳̤͠ͅeci̱̜̤̬̮̪̭͘o͉̠͈̜͟u̜͍̲̝̱̳s͈̫͝**

 

"Shhh!"

Jisung frowned and looked at the monitor. "There's someone in the room with her."

Suddenly, the sound of a tool or a knife moving scraping against the wall could be heard, the woman looked around frantically, but it was no use. Jisung could feel his heart begin to race. 

_It's pitch black, she can't see. She can't see who's coming._

_But I can._

He swallowed and pressed the microphone. "Eunha-ssi. Don't panic, but I think there's someone in the room with you."

Eunha froze and listened to the sound of the tool. "I think so too."

"Please, try to stay calm. We're finding your location. We'll send the police there as soon as we can."

"Don't leave, Jisung. Please."

"I won't. I promise."

Jisung ripped the earphones out of his ears. "I know you guys are trying your best, but can you do us a favour and hurry the fuck up?"

"We're trying, VPN is blocking everything. Hyunjinnie is trying to find the camera." Woojin replied as calmy as he could.

Chan tapped Jisung's shoulder lightly, gesturing to the monitor, he turned around and was greeted by a man, staring into the camera. A masked man, wielding a hammer. He plugged the earphones back in his ears.

**T͎̝͔͕̮͞h̖͕̯͈̠͙i̞̳ș̭ ͚͖͖̦i̛̪̻s̺̻ ̸͈̘̤̤w͕̝̩͟ḩ̼͚a͍̳̪͍͙͓͞t̛̬͇͓̳̬̩̯ y̧͇o̸̘̺͇̘͙u͏̟̖̩̦̳ ̜̙̳͚̺̤̣g̨̖͔e̸͔t̙̕ ̳̦͔͓̥f̥̗̝̺̙̟͕o͍̮͢r͟ ̛̞͍̼̭͎̟̟w̳̲̩as̤̩͓̮̩͍͕ti̼̬̲̯n̡̫͈͉̙͉̩g̢͈̩͍̬͖ ̱̮̫̠̟͕̙ṯ̜̮͓i͖͕͇͎̘̫͍͘m̳̺̭̺̺e̝̪͍͍̦͙͘**

 

Jisung barely had time to press the microphone. It all happened so fast.

Thump. A hammer colliding with a head.

A scream. Eunha's scream

Blood, so much blood.

Thump, after thump,

He wouldn't  _stop._

Another scream, Jisung's scream. 

"Turn it off, somebody turn it off!" Chan roared. Woojin dived for the extension cord and ripped every single plug out of it. Silence. A mourning silence.

"Sungie?..." Felix saw silent tears running down the boy's cheeks. He looked pale, sickly pale, his small figure shaking with fright but still looking stiff at the same time.

Nobody dared to say anything as Minho and Chan comforted him. Some of them just didn't have anything to do or say that would help the situation.

Minho had pulled Jisung into his arms, and he completely lost it. The boy began to sob his heart out, not even taking the time to try to breathe. He tried to talk, nothing but a stuttered mess came out. 

"W-We...We k-killed Eun-Eunha. We killed h-her..." He wailed, the sound was enough to make anyone want to cry. Woojin realized that it was a good time to send everyone into the other room. 

"Oh baby..." Minho held him tighter, tighter than ever before. "You tried your best. We all did..."

"Y-Yeah, but I...I heard everything. E-Everything. S-She was so scared, a-and, an-"

"I know baby, I know..." 

"You need to breathe, Sungie. Breathe in time with us." Chan instructed in a desperate attempt to calm him. He took a deep breath, held it and then released it, and motioned for the younger to copy.

After a few attempts, Jisung's breathing wasn't as erratic as before, but he wasn't exactly calm either. The trio sat there in silence, Minho gently rocking Jisung. "I-I'm sorry, hyungs."

Minho looked at him, wiping away a stray tear with his thumb. "About what, hm?"

"That I couldn't warn her in time."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	8. Tired

The week had come and gone without an answer. Seungmin wasn't one for admitting defeat, but from what his faction had been dealing with for the past week, he started to contemplate it. It wasn't like these punishments were discreet anyway. Headlines had been popping up  _everywhere._

**_"BREAKING NEWS: YOUNG WOMAN FOUND DEAD IN BASEMENT"_ **

**_"MAN FOUND STRANGLED TO DEATH IN SEOUL APARTMENT"_ **

**_"TEENAGE GIRL RAPED AND MURDERED IN LOCAL PARK"_ **

Seungmin was sick of it. They all were.

Seungmin was waiting for that fateful day. The day they would become the headline.

 

"Have you seen the news these past few days? It's completely insane." Jinyoung handed his phone to Jackson, knowing that Jackson never really kept track of the news.

It took one look at the recent headline before Jackson gave a look of disgust and tossed Jinyoung's phone back at him. "People are sick sometimes, sick."

Yugyeom was sitting on the countertop eating a bowl of cereal, his feet grazing the floor. "What's up, hyung?"

"Another killing, we can literally see the crime scene from our window. It's like they're getting closer to us every time."

Yugyeom shrugged. "Spooky."

Jackson chuckled at the maknae. "If you get killed it'll probably be Jinyoung's doing since you  _haven't_ been doing the dishes."

Yugyeom groaned. "You're so childish sometimes, hyung." 

"And you need to do the dishes." Jinyoung was already leaving the dorm room as he said it, Jackson following soon after.

Alone, Yugyeom decided to see if the newest crime scene could actually be seen from the window. His hyung was right. It was a bit far away but still visible, the yellow crime scene tape that surrounded a section of Yongsan park stood out from the greenery. Police cars were still littered around the area.

_Huh, that is pretty close._

Yugyeom began to wonder if these murders were related. A single incident would've been ruled out as a random killing, but three within the same week?

Maybe he was overthinking.

_Maybe._

 

Seungmin hated coffee, but it was the only thing that was keeping him from collapsing while in school. His teachers didn't really care that he was falling asleep in class and nobody really bothered to wake him, so what was the problem? He had better things to be worrying about anyway. 

The others began to dislike the fact that it was getting darker as the school days came to a close. With all of these killings that were technically on  _their_ hands, they couldn't afford to be walking alone. Therefore, Woojin volunteered to walk Seungmin and Jeongin home from school. Hundreds of students flooded out from the gates, either hitting the streets, getting into cars or travelling on the bus. The eldest spotted the maknaes instantly despite the sea of uniformed kids.

"How was school?" Woojin began, trying to make it seem like their past month had been somewhat normal. It wasn't really working.

"Fell asleep again," Seungmin said simply. "Got a B in my math test."

"That's cool." Woojin replied, ignoring the falling asleep part as they walked with the crowd. Jeongin had fallen behind to talk with a friend. Woojin recognized him as Chunso, the kid had been friends with Jeongin since they both started school. If Jeongin wasn't with his faction, he was with Chunso.

Woojin's voice quietened. "Isn't that the kid with the missing little sister?"

"Yeah." Seungmin said quietly. "From what I've heard, the police were questioning the family a lot. That's how you know they've given up on the search. My bet is it'll be called off within the next week."

"Aish. I really hope they find her, or at least a body to bury..."

Chunso crossed the road, leaving Jeongin with his hyungs again. It had been half an hour at this point, and the street was nearly empty, only cars were in view. "Hyung? Can we get hot chocolate? It's freezing."

Woojin chuckled. "Sure, why not. I have change on me anyway."

Jeongin punched the air in triumph and ran ahead to one of the many local stores around the area, leaving Seungmin and Woojin alone again. There was always something about Woojin's presence. You instantly felt safe when he was with you, no matter what kind of situation you were in. Seungmin couldn't pinpoint exactly what made it that way, but he wasn't complaining, having Woojin around felt like home.

"Did anything happen while we were at school?"

"Nothing much." Woojin sighed. "We finished that zero-day and we tested it, so hopefully if something happens we have a chance at fighting back. Hyunjin still hasn't gotten out of bed and everyone else is just mooching around."

Seungmin rubbed his hands together in an attempt to keep warm. "At least the zero-day is finished. Is Sungie doing any better?"

Woojin shook his head. "Not really, he has taken a few power naps but nothing major. It's like every time he closes his eyes he sees her, the girl in the basement."

Seungmin sighed. They hadn't been sleeping very well for the past few weeks, but Jisung was by far the worst. Ever since the first horrific Livestream, he refused to sleep, the image of the hammer was glued to the inside of his eyelids. Chan had managed to coax him into sleeping, but he would wake up shivering and whimpering every single time. It was heartbreaking to watch.

"How the hell did it come to this, hyung?" Seungmin said, an angry tone lacing his voice. 

"I don't know, Seungmin-ah, I just don't know."

Just as the pair reached the front of the store they were stopped by Jeongin, who looked like he had just seen a ghost. There was no hot chocolate in his hands. "We gotta go." The maknae began to push them gently away from the door. Seungmin looked at Woojin in confusion.

"Woah, why?" Woojin placed a hand on his shoulder but he walked behind them quickly. "Baby? What's wrong?."

"I saw a Null sign, in the back of the store." Silence. Jeongin could feel his heart rate increasing.  _This is way too close._

Seungmin's eyes widened. "On the wall? where?"

"On the wall. Behind the coffee machine."

Woojin's eyebrows scrunched together. "What? Are you completely sure?"

"One hundred percent." Jeongin looked paler than ever, and Woojin believed him. "Let's head home, we can warn the others later"

The trio couldn't have gotten out of there faster.

 

Jeongin was the first to burst into the dorm, barely giving Chan any time to talk. "Hyung! They're close, in the coffee shop-"

"Slow down, Innie. What's wrong?" The leader saw the fear in the maknae's eyes, and it began to seep into him too.

"There was a null sign spraypainted in the corner store, behind the coffee machine. They obviously put it there so the building could be...tagged." Woojin tried to sound confident, but it wasn't working. His voice was shaky, afraid.  _If they have that building tagged, then what's next? Our dorm?_

Chan muttered something under his breath, before letting out a heavy sigh.

"You're perfectly on time..." The sound of Minho's voice made everyone jump. Jeongin looked over Woojin's shoulder, in the direction of Minho's voice. He was standing in front of the monitor again.

Another livestream.

 

"Oh my god."

"What?" Changbin's head tilted towards Hyunjin.

"I know that lady. She works in that corner store down the street, the one we always used to get ice cream at." He looked closer at the broadcast. It was showing footage of a middle-aged woman in a living room, watching a movie with who they were assuming to be her kids. "She has the same nose piercing, it's definitely her."

"That's it! She works in the store that was tagged!" Jeongin cried. Jisung sat in the back quietly, not wanting to watch the broadcast.

"Okay okay, we know who she is. We still have time, we'll find her address." Chan ushered for the others to move over.

"We can't go directly through the Broadcast. It's too heavily protected. We gotta find a way around it somehow."

**T̮̩̹͚̤i̫̫̻͔̮̱͔c̗͕̫̲k̭̻ ̢̠̣̫͍T̞o̼̠͕̻̗c̜k̕,̹̦̞̝ ̭͡T͇̝̬̞i̸̹͚̱͉͙̲c̷k͡ ̗͕̙̟̙͉͎T̯͍̠͠o̝͓̺̲̪c̤k̢̹̪**

Jisung felt like he was going to be sick. He looked down and began to fiddle with a broken motherboard to distract himself. Chan noticed the boy trying to ignore what was happening. He put a hand on Jisung's knee, "We'll get it done quick, Sungie."

"Do you guys have any idea where she might live?" Woojin asked Hyunjin and Jeongin, the only two who actually seemed to know this lady. 

"Nope. No idea." Hyunjin hopped onto the computer next to Changbin, while Felix and Chan kept an eye on the lady, who was oblivious to the fact that she was being watched by a rookie hacking group. The thought amused Felix.

"Her kids are pretty cute." Felix watched them, and for a quick moment, there was a lull in the situation that they were in. 

"Yeah, let's make sure nothing happens to them..."

The others were working vigorously to find the location of the broadcast, and zero-day they had been cooking up sounded promising. "Innie? have you ever connected to the WiFi in that store?" Minho asked.

"Yeah, all the time. Why?" He replied.

"If we hack into the network of that store, we might be able to pivot and find this lady's phone or laptop or something. Then..."

"Trace it back to wherever she lives, and we don't even have to touch NULL or the broadcast." Changbin finished. 

"Finally, someone is speaking my language."

Felix giggled. "Your language? Don't you mean HTML?"

Minho flicked the back of Felix's head. "Cheeky."

 

It had been a few hours and Changbin could feel his back getting sore from sitting in the same position for so long. Felix considered it an "art form" but he wasn't so sure. Using Jeongin's phone to find the WiFi connection and hacking into the store's network was pretty easy. Changbin wasn't expecting a challenge, it wasn't like this store was a high-security building or anything.

There were many devices connected to the staff only network, but there was only one device with a female name attached to it. "Choi Soyoung's Laptop," Changbin called out. Jeongin's head turned. "That's her. I remember her nametag."

"Perfect." He muttered and began to work on finding the IP address of this laptop. It didn't take very long as the lady in question wasn't equipped with a VPN

Changbin was ready to jump out of his seat in delight. They had finally found something that could lead them to NULL. "I found it! 104.16.43.42! THAT'S THE FUCKING IP!" He quickly began to create a backdoor, to get in later.

The others let out shouts of triumph and crowded around the shortest. "We're so close, I can feel it..." Seungmin muttered.

With lightning speed, Changbin copied and pasted the IP address into a Geolocation finder.

It turned out that the house wasn't as far as they thought. According to the map, it was 10 minutes by foot and 3 minutes by car. "Kkoch apartments. Very top floor."

Chan looked back at the stream, the lady was still there with her kids."Nobody's there yet, we need to warn her." He turned to the group. "Everyone, get a jacket on."

 

It felt weird, walking around the city with a dangerous objective, but it was a good weird. Jisung never bothered to change his pants, so there he was, walking around the suburbs in his pyjama bottoms. It was cold, and only a few people managed to grab their jackets before bolting out the door. The apartment complex was only a few minutes away. A few daunting, nail-biting minutes.

"I'm surprised nobody saw us leave," Felix said, wrapping his sweatshirt tightly around his shoulders.

"Yeah, it was like the whole building was empty or something," Hyujin replied. 

"Hyung. How long until we reach the apartments?" Jeongin asked, peering over Changbin's shoulder. "It's literally right across the street, see it?" 

Jeongin looked up. There stood a large apartment block with cute flower pots in the windows, Jeongin would have marvelled at it, if it wasn't for their current dilemma.

The faction began to pick up the pace as they approached the front doors, but Chan stopped them. "Stay close, don't go wandering off, okay?" Nodding, lot's of nodding.

And with that, the doors were opened. They sped past the front desk, which was empty, and headed towards the stairs since the elevator said "Out Of Service." "Dear God, why does she have to live on the very top floor?" Felix panted as the group raced up the stairs. 

**FLOOR 1.**

**FLOOR 2.**

**FLOOR 3.**

**FLOOR 4.**

**FLOOR 5.**

**FLOOR 6.**

**FLOOR 7.**

**FLOOR 8.**

**FLOOR 9.**

There was a single hallway on floor 9, a long, bright hallway. The group stood there for a moment to catch their breath, before Minho noticed something at the very end of the hall. A door to one of the apartments was wide open, like it had been kicked.  _Please no, she has children, what did she do?!..._

"Oh god, don't tell me we're too late." Minho huffed. Jisung made a beeline for the apartment, followed by the rest of the group. "Sungie! Slow down." Minho hissed.

Chan jogged up to the front of the group and peered his head around the open door. Nothing. Just an empty apartment. "Nobody here." 

One by one, the group filed into the apartment. If they were too late, they had to confirm. Just in case something was amiss.

"Okay, everybody start looking for evidence. Electronics, mail, anything you can find." Felix noticed the Laptop was broadcasting the lady and her children, the blue light in the webcam indicated that it was still going. 

_Creak_

 Silence. Nobody dared to move, the floors weren't that creaky, It must've been a door.

"Hyung, I think there's someone in he-." 

 

Whack.

 

Chan didn't even have time to react. He felt a sharp pain in his head before he tumbled to the floor. He heard screaming, the sounds of heavy boots filled the room. He couldn't get up, the pain and disorientation were preventing him from doing so, but from what he was hearing, Stray Kids were outnumbered.

_Please don't hurt them, for the love of god, don't fucking hurt them._

"N-No..." He croaked.

He felt a warm, wet substance underneath his head. Blood. His own blood? or someone else's? he didn't know.

Screams of terror and defiance filled the room. It was chaos. Chan could hear people crying as he felt himself drifting in and out of consciousness.  _Stay awake, you fucking idiot. Why are you going to sleep now? You never sleep._

He tried to get up again, but it was no use. More footsteps. Cries for help.

More voices, but they were different voices. Familiar ones.

Chan felt a hand on his back, a comforting hand.

"What have you done, Channie-ah?" 

The world went black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's good players?  
> I have exams in like two weeks that I have done absolutely no study for whatsoever, so here's a chapter to keep y'all occupied while I try to cram three years of work for 9 subjects in like a week :)  
> Once again, comments and feedback are greatly appreciated. It really helps me and motivates me to keep writing.  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	9. Saviours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safe.

_This isn't our couch._

For some reason, the fact that Chan had woken up on an unfamiliar couch was the first thing that came to his mind. He was on his side with a duvet draped over him, a duvet that was half on the couch half on the floor. His head was still throbbing a little as he desperately tried to remember what had happened before he ended up there. 

He remembered going into someone's apartment, and he remembered being on the floor. There was screaming, lot's of screaming. Footsteps, then silence.

_Wait, who saved us?_

It was then that Chan decided to slowly open his eyes. He recognized the couches, the TV, the huge window.

This was GOT7's dorm.

_Oh shit..._

He turned his head to see if anybody else was around. Felix was on the couch to the right, his mouth hanging open as he slept soundly. This must've been the first time the boy had slept in days. A dark ring of purple had formed around his right eye, along with a few scratches on his neck. He had been punched, and hard. Chan had to look away, he couldn't stand it.

_I was supposed to take care of you..._

Chan's attention was brought to a soft whimper that was coming from the couch on the left. Hyunjin was there, eyes closed with his arms above his head, crying in his disoriented state. He never wanted to get up so badly in his life. But without warning, a figure approached Hyunjin with a cold, damp rag. The figure knelt down beside the boy and placed the rag on his forehead, lulling him back to sleep. Hyunjin cried a little harder, but his din was soon silenced by a soothing, calm voice.

"Shh, It's alright, bug..." Chan recognized the voice to be Jinyoung's, it was strange hearing his voice become so gentle. "You're safe now, I promise..." Jinyoung kept the rag on Hyunjin's forehead as his other hand stroked his hair. Hyunjin always liked it when people played with his hair. Chan wondered if it was just a natural instinct, or if Jinyoung actually knew that Hyunjin found it calming.

Hyunjin's crying had finally ceased, and Jinyoung noticed that Chan had awoken.

"Chan-ah, you're awake..." He motioned for Chan to look at the coffee table. Chan sat up slowly and instantly grabbed the painkillers that were sitting on the surface. He also noticed there was a bandage wrapped around his head. "Don't sit up so fast." Jinyoung hissed.

"Do you need water to swallow the-" Chan had already swallowed the pills dry before Jinyoung could finish his sentence. Jinyoung left the rag on Hyunjin's head and shuffled closer to Chan.

"Where are the others?" He asked, sleepy yet panicked.

"Well, there's you three here. Seungmin and Changbin are sharing Youngjae's bed. The others are in Day6's dorm. We didn't have enough space for everyone, so they offered their help."

Chan nodded along and noticed that it was still partially dark outside. "What time is it, hyung?"

"It's about 5 AM. It took us a long time to get you all home..."

The leader felt his cheeks redden with guilt. "What the hell even happened?"

"We were coming home from Starship and we spotted you across the street, you looked really worried, so we decided to follow you." Chan blinked. How the hell didn't they notice them?

"We saw you running into this apartment complex and you guys never came out, so we went up and you were being attacked by a bunch of men. We managed to fight them off before they could do any severe damage. We managed to get you all back in one piece, thank god."

Chan stayed silent, realizing that if GOT7 hadn't shown up when they did, they wouldn't be alive right now. Jinyoung sighed, "You have a lot of explaining to do, you know that, right?"

"Yeah..." The leader replied quietly.

"That doesn't matter now, anyway. You need sleep. You all look exhausted. We're going to discuss all of this sooner or later."

"Is everyone mad at us?" Chan cringed at how childish he sounded.

"I can't say for sure, Channie-ah. Just go back to sleep..."

For once, Chan didn't have to be told twice.

 

Sungjin nearly fainted when he saw Got7 at his door at one in the morning, desperately holding four broken, beaten bodies. He yelled for his faction to wake up and luckily enough, they were already awake due to the lights turning on and the sounds coming from the hallway. Without a word, he held the door wide open and let them all inside. 

It took a long time. A lot of blood, sweat and tears, but the seniors managed to patch them up to the best of their ability. Jae was frozen in the same spot as he watched the others desperately try to stop Jisung's arm from bleeding all over the carpet, the boy still whimpering in agony. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. 

_If I ever get my hands on whoever did this, they better run._

That was almost 8 hours ago. Sungjin was in the living room, rolling up the carpet by their couch that Jisung had bled all over. How the hell was he supposed to explain that to the dry cleaners?

Younghyun emerged from the hallway with a coffee in his hand, observing the leader. Sungjin noticed him. "How are they?"

Younghyun sighed sadly. "They're still sleeping, they're completely wiped out."

"Aish, poor kids..." Sungjin frowned. "What did they get themselves into?"

"I don't know, but I want to know, so I can track whoever did this and pay them a little visit." Younghyun looked visibly annoyed, Sungjin could tell that he wasn't joking about the tracking part.

Suddenly, a sharp cry echoed from the bedroom. Sungjin could hear Wonpil desperately trying to calm whoever was crying. All it took was one look and the pair made a dash for the bedroom. Wonpil was on his knees beside the bottom bunk, with Jeongin curled up in a ball, crying his eyes out. The sight broke Sungjin's heart, he wished he could take Jeongin's place.

"Shh Shh, It's okay, please don't cry," Wonpil desperately started to stroke Jeongin's slightly bloody hair, not knowing what else to do. Jeongin was in hysterics, he knew he shouldn't be crying like this, he was seventeen for god's sake, but the pain he was feeling was too much. The fact that he was in an unfamiliar place didn't help either. 

"What happened?" Sungjin asked Wonpil, kneeling beside him.

"I don't know, I was checking on them and he woke up and started screaming. I didn't know what to do! I'm sor-"

Younghyun urged for Wonpil to move over, which he did. He was aware that he wasn't the best when it came to these kinds of situations, and Dowoon and Jae were out buying food, bandages and more anti-septic spray at Sungjin's request.

"Jeongin-ah, listen to me for a second," Younghyun said as gently as he could. The maknae tried his best to concentrate on the elder. 

"You need to control your breathing, okay? You're going to be sick if you don't."

"I-It hurts," Jeongin whispered, his throat dry. "It r-really hurts."

"I know it hurts, baby, but you have to try, okay? Just copy Sungjin hyung and me."  Younghyun motioned for Sungjin to copy his breathing pattern. Jeongin's fists tightened around the duvet as he watched them, desperate to get his breathing in check.

Little by little, the maknae started to breathe normally again, albeit a bit shakily. Younghyun smiled and  Sungjin patted him on the shoulder. "Good job, kid." 

Jeongin faintly smiled back, still sore and tired. Sungjin propped up his pillow and helped him to sit up. "Tell us what hurts."

Jeongin frowned again. "M-My head feels like it's going to explode, my chest really hurts too."

Sungjin nodded. "I don't know if the painkillers we have are strong enough. Do you wanna take them anyway?" The maknae instantly nodded, making Sungjin chuckle a little. "We'll go out and look for them."

"-Wait," Sungjin and Younghyun refrained from moving to the door. "I-I don't wanna be alone."

Younghyun smiled sadly, "I'll stay, don't worry." He walked back to the bottom bunk and sat down.

That was Sungjin's cue to go and find the painkillers. Just as he left the room, he heard someone else waking up. 

_A bit morbid, but at least they're alive._

 

It took a little while for the others to accept the fact that they were being coddled by got7. It felt weird, constantly being fed, bandaged and comforted, but they weren't complaining. Chan had never felt so taken care of in his life. Despite being in pain, things were still soft and calm.

The others had woken up eventually, Felix quite literally couldn't open his right eye but Youngjae had found something that reduced the swelling. It was when everyone was awake that Chan could see the extent of everyone's injuries.

Felix's eye seemed to be the worse of his injuries, along with a few bruises. Hyunjin's bottom lip was cut, along with another cut along his neck, not too deep. Upon seeing it, Chan realised something.

_Somebody tried to slit his throat._

Seungmin's knuckles were completely purple, and according to Jackson he had put up one hell of a fight. Changbin definitely needed stitches along his eyebrow, but the bandage on it seemed to be doing the job for now. Apart from bruising, cuts, scrapes and bumps, they were alive, and frankly, Chan still couldn't believe it.

Hyunjin had fallen asleep again, Jinyoung rocking him like a small child. The two seemed content. Bambam and Seungmin were sitting together on the floor playing a video game. It was more like Seungmin watching Bambam play the game, because his hands were aching like hell. Yugyeom was sitting up with Felix leaning against him, while Changbin's eyebrow was being assessed by Jaebum.

Jaebum would never show it around the younger ones, but he was absolutely livid. Keeping it all in was a challenge, but he forced himself to bury it. Keeping them safe was all that mattered now, and screaming at the top of his lungs wasn't the best idea. So there he was, being as gentle as humanly possible, but on the inside, he was ready to kill someone.

Miraculously, Chan's phone had survived his fall. He felt a buzz in his pocket and took it out. It was a text from Yugyeom.

**YG: I don't know what happened last night, I think Bam and I have a fair idea, but just a heads up, Jaebum hyung is probably going to start talking about it sooner or later.**

Chan looked up at Yugyeom, who wiggled his eyebrow.

**BC: Thanks, we'd all be dead if it wasn't for you guys**

**YG: Seriously, don't worry about it, what were we supposed to do? Leave you all there to die? I don't think so**

**BC: Have you seen everyone who's in day6's dorm?**

**YG: I went earlier with Youngjae hyung, they were still asleep. You all slept like babies.**

**BC: Can't relate. Can you get me water?? Jinyoung and Jaebum hyung are going to shoot me if I stand up.**

**YG: Sure, gotta get Felix off me first**

 

 

Jisung was the last to wake up, he didn't really know where he was, but he didn't care. He sat up slowly, his back aching as he did. He had one thing on his mind, and that was food.

_I'm fucking hungry._

He peeled back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bunk, trying to ignore the aching of his joints. He noticed that the sweatpants he had on were pretty baggy, and the shirt he had on wasn't his own.  _Did someone dress me?_

Slowly, he lowered himself onto the ground, grateful that the bunks weren't extremely high. He instantly noticed that when pressure was put on his ankle, it hurt. He brushed it off and hobbled away.

Wherever he was, he didn't recognize it, but familiar voices echoed through the hallway from a room at the very end of it.  _Thank god I'm not the only one here._

He hobbled a little faster but it wasn't his best idea. He ended up tripping into whatever room the voices had come from, an uncontrolled yelp of pain escaping his mouth. 

"Jisungie!" Woojin cried, but before he could react, the majority of Day6 were already racing to help him up. 

Before Jisung even acknowledged who was around him, he found himself in the arms of Jae, while the others crowded around. 

"You okay, kiddo?" Jae asked, his face plastered with concern. Jisung shifted himself up. "I'm okay."

"Is your leg giving you trouble?" Sungjin asked, as if he could read Jisung's mind. Jisung felt a blush forming on his face.

"Y-Yeah..." He said quietly, subconsciously leaning closer to Jae. "My ankle."

Sungjin noticed that the squirrel's ankle was noticeably swollen and he hissed. "How come we didn't notice that last night?"

"Maybe I slept strangely?"

"That's not how sprained ankles work, baby."

"Wrap your legs around me, let's get you off the floor," Jae instructed. Jisung obeyed, the blush on his face getting deeper and deeper. Younghyun was the only one who seemed to notice it. He smiled, "Cute,"

Embarrassed, Jisung buried his face into Jae's shoulder, which only received more "Awws" and "Cutes" as Jae sat him down beside Woojin. Woojin was okay for the most part, he looked pale, his cheek was swollen and only a little blood was seen on his clothes.

"We're ordering food. What do ya fancy?" Jae asked.

"I don't know, chicken?"

"Any particular kind?"

"Nope," Jisung replied. "Just anything chicken." 

"On it, kiddo." Jae lightly ruffled his hair as he passed. He grabbed his coat and disappeared out the door. 

"Hyung, do you know where my clothes are?" Jisung asked, still blushing about the fact that somebody dressed him last night.

"I think they're getting washed, Sungie. They were covered in blood, so Wonpil hyung found some spare clothes for you and got you dressed. It wouldn't be fair to let you sleep in blood."

Jisung nodded. "They don't fit, like at all." 

Minho butted into the conversation. "That's 'cause you're small, Sungie."

"Shut up, hyung."  
  


 

**SJ: Are we still going ahead with that meeting later?**

**JB: Honestly, I don't think so. They're too tired. I wish I could do something to take their pain away.**

**SJ: How are yours holding up? Here is fine for the most part.**

**JB: They're okay, but I think they're hurting more than they're leading on. I guess we'll find out. I think we should organize something for tomorrow.**

**SJ: 👍**

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Older peeps taking care of younger peeps is lowkey my aesthetic like fr link me some fics in the comments if you want I need that soft shit in my life.  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	10. W4tched

 

Jaebum's plan to have a discussion with Stray Kids and Day6 ultimately backfired. It had been almost four days. Hyunjin's fever wasn't going away, the boy was a sweating mess for the majority of the time they had stayed with Got7. Seungmin's nose was getting stuffy, Changbin's eyebrow was oozing with pus, no amount of disinfectant could cease it. Felix still couldn't see very well out of his right eye, his voice was getting hoarse and frankly, it was breaking Chan's heart.

Chan's head injury, thankfully, wasn't as severe as Mark thought it was, so he was allowed to get up and help with whoever was in need. It was around 10pm, and as soon as Hyunjin had got up and stumbled to the bathroom, Chan immediately knew something was wrong.

"Is he okay?" Mark watched as Chan patted Hyunjin's back as the boy threw up the contents of whatever he had eaten previously. This confirmed Mark's suspicions of Hyunjin having the flu. Hyunjin wiped his mouth with his sleeve (or rather Yugyeom's) and Chan flipped him around, pushing his hair back from his sweaty forehead.

"Aish, you're still burning..." The leader was fit to cry as he watched Hyunjin rock slightly backwards and forwards, clearly disoriented. Mark stepped in and placed his hand on Hyunjin's shoulder in an attempt to ground him.

"Can't see..." Hyunjin croaked, his throat still burning. He leaned closer to Mark, who shot Chan a worried look.

Chan looked just as tired as Hyunjin. He hadn't left any of his members since he was able to get up, and Mark was beginning to question if the leader was capable of taking care of anyone right now. "Chan-ah, I think you should let us take care of this, you need sleep."

Chan blinked. "What? No. I'm okay, I don't need any more sle-" Chan interrupted his own sentence with a yawn. Mark raised his eyebrow as he looked away bashfully. "I'm serious, Channie-ah. You've been running on practically nothing. I understand if you're not in the mood for eating, but at least try to get some rest." The elder paused. "Please?"

"But Hyunjin-"

"Will be perfectly fine." Jaebum's voice made both Mark and Chan jump. "Go back to bed, Chan-ah."

Chan looked to Jaebum, then to Hyunjin, then back to Jaebum again. He quietly stood up and made his way back to the living room.

Hyunjin sniffled. "M'sorry." Jaebum knelt beside him and began to examine him. His hair was sticking to his forehead, which still rivalled the temperature of hell, yet he was still shivering. Yugyeom's sweater was sticking to him and his breath still faintly smelled of vomit.

"You have nothing to apologize for." Was all Jaebum said before scooping the boy off the floor. Hyunjin instantly latched onto the leader like a desperate child. Jaebum acknowledged Hyunjin's silent need for comfort and held onto him tighter as he walked towards the bedroom.

Mark opened the door and flinched as it began to creak, but stopped once he saw that Seungmin and Felix were still completely out of it in Jackson's bunk. Jackson sat there, watching over them. Mark would've initially thought it was a bit creepy to find someone staring at two sleeping teenagers, but it was Jackson, and the look in his eyes as he watched them was far from anything malicious or creepy. If anything, it was worry.

Jackson got up and helped Jaebum with a very clingy Hyunjin. They placed him down into Jaebum's bunk, opposite Jackson's and didn't bother to pull the covers over him, he was far too warm for that. Despite being warm, the boy still shivered and showed no signs of stopping

"M'cold." He whined, his eyes still slightly shut from sleepiness. "Blanket."

"We can't, baby, It's too heavy. You're really warm." Jackson replied, pushing Hyunjin's hair off of his sticky forehead.

"P-Please.?"

Jaebum sighed. "Just let him have it if he's cold."

Jackson complied and started to drape the duvet over Hyunjin's shivering body. He instantly melted into the fabric and curled up into it. Mark looked back to see if the other's were still sleeping, which they were. He was surprised that they had managed to stay asleep between the door creaking and the group trying to settle Hyunjin, which could only mean one thing, they were still tired as fuck.

"They look so small..." Jackson smiled sadly.

The group sat in silence for a while, Hyunjin's heavy breathing being the only sound audible. 

"I think we should get them professional help." 

Jackson turned to Mark, while Jaebum kept his eyes on Hyunjin's sleeping frame. 

"Are you insane, hyung? If we take them to JYP or anybody for that matter, they'll start asking questions. We could all get in shit for this, Day6 included. I don't want to watch them get interrogated by police over something as traumatic as that." Jackson said, gesturing to the sleeping bodies all around him.

Jaebum put his hand over Hyunjin's and thought about it for a moment. Jackson did have a point, getting interrogated by authorities wasn't on his list of things to do, and fingers could potentially be pointed at Got7 for not taking care of the juniors or not phoning the police. 

But then again, Mark also had a point. They weren't equipped to handle what was happening around them, and neither was Day6. Attending to a group of crying, nervous, bleeding kids wasn't exactly on the companies contract. They were running out of medical supplies almost every day when it came to disinfectant and painkillers. And when there wasn't wailing in pain, there was vomit, or fevers, or no appetites. This was something out of Got7's control, and it was killing them to watch.

"We can't just drag them to the doctor's without consulting them first." Jaebum finally said. "They're 18 and 19, not 8 years of age. We'll ask them how they feel and if they think they need the doctor's or not. We can cover it up, say they got into a skateboarding accident or something. It's the least we can do..."

That statement seemed to satisfy both Mark and Jackson. Suddenly, the foot of Jaebum's bunk started vibrating and emitting a ringtone. Hyunjin's phone was ringing. 

Mark dived for the phone and put his thumb over the speaker to dampen the ringtone. A name was flashed on the screen.  **Jisungie <3**

_He puts hearts beside their names, that's cute._

 

Things weren't going well for Jisung. He only had two nights of peaceful, uninterrupted sleep before his nightmares decided to make a grand appearance once again. All it took was one sob to escape from his mouth before Younghyun, Jae and Dowoon rushed to the rescue. They found the boy sitting on the living room floor, shaking and blocking his mouth with his hand to dampen his cries.

"Hey, hey..." Jae took Jisung's hand away from his mouth and brushed his tears away with his thumbs. Younghyun was already pulling Jisung back onto the couch, which he had presumably fallen off of during his dream. Dowoon tiptoed over to the sink to fill a glass of water, still aware of the others who were still sleeping on the couches around them.

Dowoon handed Jisung the glass as Younghyun rubbed his hand up and down his back. Jisung tipped the glass upwards and let the liquid pour down his throat. Jae thought that Jisung would choke if he drank it any faster. "I-I'm okay." He sat up a little further and was greeted by the comforting arms of Younghyun.

"No, you're not, tell us what's wrong. Nightmare?" Jae put his hand on Jisung's shoulder, he flinched ever so slightly.

"Yeah, it was nothing though."

Dowoon scoffed. "Nothing? You were screaming, Jisung-ah. Something about Eunha?"

Jisung flinched slightly into Younghyun. "Please don't say her name."

"It's okay, we won't," Younghyun replied, stroking the back of Jisung's hair. It seemed to comfort him, so he kept going. "Wanna tell us what your dream was about, hm?" He was curious about what had gotten Jisung so shaken. And more importantly, who Eunha was.

Jisung shivered. "N-Not really, you wouldn't get it." Jae could tell that something was wrong. It was with the way that Jisung was talking. He was talking as if the dream was something that  _actually_ happened. They weren't there so they wouldn't get it. 

"Are you sure? It might help you feel better." Jae asked, still unsure of Jisung.

"I'm sure." Younghyun pulled him into a tight hug, shielding him.

Silence. 

"Hyunjin." 

Jae blinked. "What?"

Jisung sat up and began to feel around for his phone. "I need to call Hyunjin."

"Why?"

"I need to make sure he's okay." 

_Weird. Why Hyunjin specifically?_

Jae began to help Jisung to search for his phone, it didn't take long, it was on the floor next to the couch where Jisung fell. Jisung practically snatched it out of Jae's hands and began searching for Hyunjin's name in his contacts. He found it and held the device up to his ear. 

"Hello? Jisung-ah?"

_That isn't Hyunjin_

"Oh, Mark hyung, is Hyunjin there?"

"Nope, he's sleeping, is there something wrong?" 

Jae leaned over, an idea sparking in his head. "Sungie? can I talk to Mark for a sec?" the squirrel handed over his phone, too tired to put up an argument. Younghyun let him rest against his chest as Jae got up and went into the bathroom to talk to Mark.

"Hey man, Jisung had a nightmare and I think he saw Hyunjin in it, so he wanted to call him to make sure that he was okay."

"It's fine, is he okay?" Mark replied, sounding concerned. "From what I've heart from Jaebum and Sungjin, nobody has been sleeping right." 

"He'll be okay, we'll stay with him to make sure he-" Jae paused. He moved the phone closer towards his ear.  _Is that static?_

"Jae, you there?"

Jae ignored Mark and listened into the phone.  _Static._

_The phone feels way too hot, and there's static?_

_His phone is fucking tapped._

"Jae, are you alive?" Mark said, sounding impatient.

"M-Mark, Jisung's phone, it's tapped. I can hear the static." Jae heard a faint  _"Shit"_

Jae knew that it wasn't the best idea to say the phone was tapped when there was clearly someone or something tracking and listening, but he didn't care. There was a pause, Jae heard incoherent talking in the background before Mark spoke. "Jaebum wants a group-up, and fast."

"Say no more."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE MY LAST EXAM TOMORROW AND IT'S FRENCH I WANT TO dIE.  
> Sorry for not posting in like 10 years and sorry this was kinda shit/short, I needed to post something to prove that I was actually still alive lmao. Hopefully, I'll get my creative juices flowing before everyone loses interest in this story including myself lol.  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	11. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The groups finally give and get answers

Before the members of the Day6 dorm could even ask what was going on, they were being marched up the stairs to Got7's dorm, the awkward silence heightening their anxieties. Day6 didn't say much as they told them to get their shoes on and put on a sweatshirt.

They were asked to hand over their phones and any other devices they had in their pockets, which was strange. The same thing was done in Got7's dorm just as the others arrived for the group up. The silence in there was equally as scary, Jeongin noticed Jaebum sitting there, hand to his mouth and his eyes fixated on the pile of phones on the table.

Dowoon and Wonpil assisted the others in pushing extra chairs around the table to accommodate everyone for the meeting, or interrogation as it seemed. Everyone managed to find a chair and sat down.

Hyunjin pulled Jeongin into a gentle hug, aware that the maknae's ribs were still bruised, perhaps even broken. He couldn't tell, he wasn't told much about the extent of everyone's injuries, nobody was.

"I missed you." Was all Hyunjin managed to get out before Jaebum and Sungjin sat down at the top of the table, the others eagerly waiting for what they had to say. Chan swallowed and looked to Bambam, who looked down, he could already tell what was going to be discussed. 

_It was going to happen sooner or later._

"I know you guys probably don't want to talk about things right now, but we need to discuss what's going on here." Sungjin began. "You've been acting so strangely, and as your seniors, it's worrying us. So please, just tell us what has been happening, we won't yell." It was obvious that he was referring to Jaebum when he mentioned yelling, but nobody looked at him or said anything. Jaebum was known for bursting out in anger, and Sungjin wasn't sure if yelling was the right way to go about this.

"I noticed that Jisungie's phone had been tapped." Jae continued. "I'm not sure if you realized, but phone tapping can be absolutely deadly. I don't know how it happened or who done it. But I had the feeling that it was something got to do with whatever or whoever has been bothering you." The others in Day6 and Got7 nodded in agreement.

Chan's eyes darted around the room, he couldn't look anyone in the eyes and he knew it was his turn to talk. He could feel everybody's eyes on him.

_The least I can do is tell the truth._

"We were watching a Livestream. Everything was fine until it was shut down. I decided to check if it was something on our end. But we found a terminal that asked us to play a game..."

Jaebum froze. This situation sounded too familiar.  _They were asked to play a game?  That's what happened last time they struck the company._

The leader's suspicions were correct once Chan finished his sentence. "A group called Null had hacked our side of the Livestream."

Wonpil's jaw dropped, Jackson cursed under his breath and the others facial expressions had morphed into expressions of anger, worry, denial. Stray Kids were silent, they didn't really know what to say, there was nothing that they  _could_ say.

"I fucking knew it..." Yugyeom shot Chan a disappointed look. Bambam looked like he wanted to cry.  _I thought he would listen to us. God damn it, I was wrong. I was so so wrong._

Jaebum's eyes widened in anger. "You two? You...you knew?" Yugyeom's cheeks flushed and Bambam's eyes darted away. "Y-Yeah, sorta?" It took everything that Jaebum had to not scream at them in front of everyone. "Jaebum hyung, we need to focus." Jinyoung placed his hand on the leader's shoulder, bringing him back to reality. It wasn't long before everyone noticed that Chan had been silently crying, his tears dripping from his chin.

"I-I went to JYP hyung, but he didn't believe me. He told me to stop joking around. Some of us d-didn't want to accept it, but we did. We thought it would've been a good blow tow-" Chan's voice wobbled, he couldn't say anything, his tears had taken over. He buried his face in his hands in shame. He felt a hand on his back. It felt big.  _Woojin._

Woojin decided to take over talking with his hand still rubbing Chan's back. "We accepted their challenge and tried to find out their identities. We saw that they were a big group operating in drugs and human trafficking towards kids. We didn't just want to let it slide." He said as calmly as he could, although Sungjin noticed his voice was wavering.

"How long has this been going on?" Sungjin asked, not wanting to know the answer. 

Woojin looked at the others for confirmation, hesitant to tell the answer. "I'm not sure, a month maybe?" It felt weird to say it. It felt like they had been fighting for a lot longer than a month. Every day had been dreadful and long, it felt like years.

"A month?" Youngjae couldn't believe what he was hearing. They suspected that something was wrong, sure, but they hadn't suspected that they had been enduring Null's  _bullshit_ for a whole 30 days, maybe even more. "Why didn't you say anything?! We could've helped!"

"We didn't think anyone would believe us..." Minho said quietly, which was unlike him. "We did a lot of research, we thought we could do it..."

"Clearly you couldn't," Jinyoung said bluntly, referring to the phones and the many injuries that the younger ones were sporting. "Do you realize how irresponsible that was? a problem shared is a problem halved. We would have helped you."

"How did you end up in that apartment complex?" Jaebum asked. Chan cringed, remembering the events that had lead up to them being absolutely owned.

 "N-Null had been broadcasting Livestreams to us as punishment, to scare us." The others already didn't like what Chan was saying, but it got worse. "The broadcasts were real people, not old footage. It showed people being...murdered. They were killed b-because of us."

Younghyun put two and two together.  _Jisung saw someone. Eunha?_

"Was Eunha a victim?" Silence ensued and Chan nodded, remembering that night like it happened yesterday. Jisung could feel himself tearing up, he couldn't stop it, he couldn't stop his brain from replaying the Livestream in his head like a movie. Felix noticed and placed his small hand over Jisung's.

"I k-killed her..." He muttered to himself.

"You didn't kill her, Sungie-ah." Sungjin wasn't going to listen to the squirrel accuse himself of something he didn't actively do. "Did you tell the person to do it?"

"No."

"Did you do it with your own hands?"

"No."

"Then you didn't kill anyone, end of discussion." Sungjin sat back in his chair and Jisung quickly shut up. Jackson was frankly horrified by what he was hearing.  _This has been going on for the past month while we were just sitting here, speculating. Why didn't we say anything? Why didn't we ask?_

Jaebum gestured for the others to quieten down. "Go on, Chan-ah. We're listening."

Chan shuffled in his seat. "That sorta stuff went on for...a few weeks. During one of the streams we managed to find the location of one of the victims. Which was the apartment building. We ran there and tried to save her before it was too late, but it was a trap. I think." Upon realizing that they weren't going to get eaten alive by their seniors, Chan felt a lot less nervous while talking.

"Sick," Wonpil muttered.

Sungjin sighed. "Null must've tapped into Jisung's phone. While we're here, we might as well check if any other phones are tapped."

While it was still quiet a few of the seniors grabbed a phone other than Jisung's and listened and felt around for anything suspicious. There was no static, bad battery or heat coming from any of them, only Jisung's.

"There's only one tap, Sungie's." Yugyeom confirmed as he put Changbin's phone down. "Why?"

"To avoid detection, probably," Jae suggested, his suggestion seemed to make sense to everyone.

"I don't get it." Seungmin said, confused. "We haven't used our phones for hacking, we never did. How did someone get access?" Chan knew he had a point, somebody must've been off guard and got a bug planted in their phone somehow.

"Does anyone remember the exact day or date this all started happening?"

Minho remembered. "6th of January, it was a Sunday."

"Well? Did anybody do anything or go anywhere sketchy? was anybody out that day?" Jinyoung asked.

Jisung raised his hand meekly. "I was out getting food." everyone turned their heads to face him, Jisung could be a lead. "Was there anyone undesirable in there, or even remotely suspicious looking?"

Jisung thought about it for a moment, was there anyone shady looking? It was a pizza takeaway, a local one too, why would anybody "Undesirable" even go there? 

"Not really. The only weird thing I can think of is there was a new person working there. He was much older than the employees." 

"Do you remember what he looked like?" Jackson asked. 

Jisung thought harder. "He looked like a generic creep. Patchy beard, grey hair, pretty wrinkly too." 

Youngjae had a friend who worked in that takeaway, and from what she had told him about the place, everybody who worked there was in their 20s or 30s, nothing more and nothing less. So the fact that a random older man just suddenly appeared to work there raised his suspicions.

"My friend Seoyeon works in that takeaway. I can ask her to find out about the man, hopefully." 

Things were finally starting to be pieced together. The phone was tapped, which eventually lead to their monitors being hacked. The broadcasts and viruses were sent, evidently due to the system being under Null's control. And the cycle was repeating itself, every single day.

In all of this chaos, there was calculation. And frankly, it was terrifying.

"One more thing." Jaebum said, catching everyone's attention. "From here on out, nobody is going to blame themselves for what happened. Got it? nobody is going into this alone, not anymore.

Sungjin glanced at the wall to see the time. 12:30, they had been talking for nearly three hours, it hadn't felt like three hours at all. "We should all head to bed. We can start sorting this out in the morning. Plus there are doctor's appointments to be made in the morning."

Everyone slowly started to return either to their designated sleeping spot or back downstairs to the Day6 dorm. Just before Chan could head to the bathroom, Jaebum stopped him. "Can I talk to you for a second?" 

"Okay?" Chan and Jaebum waited for everybody else to leave so they could have "leader" talk.

"I'm disappointed in you. We all are."  _What a great way to start off a sentence, hyung._ "But I understand your intentions. I want to see Null on their knees, we will do anything we can to help. I've seen this before and I dont want to see it again. We have your back and we always will." Jaebum smiled.

Chan sighed. "Thank you, hyung. As a leader, I did a shit job, I shouldn't have acted so drastically." he looked down in guilt. "I should have protected my team."

"Hey." Jaebum replied gently. "Remember what I said? don't blame yourself. You tried your best, that's all that matters. You're not a bad leader, you listened to your faction and acknowledged what they wanted to do. We will protect you, we're in this together."

Chan smiled sadly. "We didn't want anybody to get involved."

"There's no escaping your seniors, Channie-ah." Jaebum chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. 

_We have help. We can turn this around._

_We can fight back._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a week off I can't wait to SLEEP  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	12. Ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game is on.

"Hey"

The sound of Youngjae's voice made Seoyeon jump as she was distracted with cleaning the tables next to the door. Letting out a little chuckle, she stood up. "Jae-ah! nice to see you," She patted him on the shoulder in a friendly manner, putting down her cleaning supplies.

Youngjae smiled. "You too." He sat down on one of the chairs that went with the table she was cleaning. "Noona, I need a favour."

Seoyeon raised her eyebrow. "Oh? Fire away." 

Youngjae gestured for her to come closer, even though it was only her and another employee behind the counter in the whole building. Seoyeon knew Youngjae well, and she knew when he was being serious and when he wasn't. Whatever he needed was serious, she could tell that much. He rarely asked for favours, especially ones he knew he wouldn't be able to pay back right away. 

Seoyeon liked to think of herself as a trustworthy person, but with her many tattoos and questionable past she wasn't surprised that people found her offputting. But Youngjae didn't, and she appreciated that. 

"A junior of mine came in here around a month ago, he said there was a strange older man working here, ring any bells?"

Seoyeon pushed her bangs off of her forehead for a moment. "I think so, yeah. I didn't think anything of it, but an older man started working here and left after about a week, the others and I didn't really care. He was a bit quiet." She paused and lowered her voice a little. "Why are you asking?" 

"There's some really nasty stuff going on at JYP. Like murder nasty, and we think he could've been involved." He paused as he saw Seoyeon's face drop as if to say "Please tell me you're joking." Deep down she knew that he was being serious. Youngjae continued, much quieter this time. "Yeah, It's really bad. Was the guy doing anything questionable, anything weird?"  Youngjae looked over to the other employee, who was thankfully occupied with a customer.

Seoyeon thought hard.  _Yeah, sure, we thought he was a bit of a creep. I mean, why would you voluntarily work at a place with a bunch of loud-mouthed young adults? He never did anything hurtful or strange towards any of us, though. Or maybe he just never got the chance..._

"I will admit," She began, tracing one of her forearm tattoos with her finger. "We all thought he was a little creepy. He seemed way too enthusiastic about working at a little takeaway, he was quiet, he always left during breaks and never bothered to really talk to us. He was constantly fiddling with equipment, like the credit card machine and the computer we have in the back." Now that she was saying it all out loud, she realised how fishy this guy sounded. "To be honest, I see why you find this guy suspicious." 

Youngjae nodded. "I know this is a bit of a stretch, but do you think his resume and all that stuff is still on the computer? It would really help us."

Seoyeon sighed, knowing where this conversation would go. "More than likely. We keep records on all of our employees, but seriously, how is this guy even involved with JYP tech? and murder? I think you owe me a bit of an explanation." She laughed, but her expression remained the same, stern and worried.

Youngjae looked around to make sure nobody was listening in. "Believe me when I say this, I will tell you everything, Noona, but not at the moment. Everything is too heated right now, telling you all of this could put you and all of your co-workers in danger." Seoyeon nodded slowly, getting the message. "Do you think you could get me access to his employee files? I would just waltz right in but, you know, I don't work here."

Seoyeon hissed. "I don't know about that, Youngjae-ah. The information is technically confidential and for managers and employers only..." She glanced towards the employee's only door, and then back to Youngjae. "On a scale of one to ten, how much do you think this would benefit you?"

Youngjae handed Seoyeon a USB stick. "A solid nine."

Seoyeon nodded and shoved the USB in her back pocket, Youngjae could hear her muttering something to her co-worker before disappearing behind the door.  **"EMPLOYEE'S ONLY."**

Drumming his fingers on the table and getting some disapproving stares from Seoyeon's co-worker, after a few minutes she reappeared, with the potential gold mine that was the USB.

"This is his whole file, I hope you're right about him." Before Seoyeon handed it to Youngjae, she retracted. "I won't ask about whatever is going on, but let me know if something bad is about to happen around here. I'll be able to get everyone out that way."

Youngjae nodded and took the USB from her hand. "I'll call you, but in the meantime. look out for null symbols."

Seoyeon looked puzzled as Youngjae headed for the door, but she stopped him. "One more thing."

"Yeah, noona?"

"If anyone asks, you didn't get that file from me, okay?"

Youngjae rolled his eyes and smiled before leaving the takeaway. He took out his phone and plugged in the top end of the USB. He clicked into his messages.  **"Minho"**

**YJ: I found the guy's employee file. Sending it to you now. Get everything you can on him.**

 

 

 

"Not to be rude, but it smells like someone died down here," Bambam stated as the group approached Stray Kids' dorm.

Chan finished typing in the code and the door slid open, whiffs of old pizza, laundry and coffee instantly hitting his nostrils. He honestly didn't remember leaving their living space in such a terrible state, but then again, they were too distracted to even think about cleaning. He was already getting bad memories.

"We haven't cleaned in a while." He muttered sheepishly, tossing his phone on the couch as Bambam, Jackson, Changbin and Jae followed him in. "I haven't been down here in a while," Jae began. "Did you move your monitors?" 

"Yeah, we get bored with the layout sometimes." Changbin sat down at a monitor. "What should we be looking for?"

"Just show us what you've been getting up to, what sort of programs you've been using and stuff," Jae replied. "That way, we can get an idea of how much progress you've made and how we can hit em' where it hurts."

"After last week, I don't even know if we've made progress..." Chan muttered. "I don't think getting the shit beaten out of you is progress."

"I mean, it's something?" Jackson shrugged, grabbing a chair.

He looked around the dorm that was littered with graffiti, posters and polaroids. It was cluttered with books, electronics and even stuffed animals. The room had its own youthful charm. It reminded Jackson of when Got7 had started, when they were eager and hungry for rebellion and justice in a digital age.

Changbin brought up saved scripts and information that the faction had collected and utilized over the month. Chan handed Bambam around 3 USB sticks also. "All of this combined with a few ProxyChains, is basically all we've been using."

Jackson scanned through Changbin's screen as he moved windows and laid everything out on the desktop. To say the least, he was impressed at the amount of work they had done in such a short period of time. But it also meant that Null was even more powerful than the last encounter, a few clever scripts wouldn't be enough to take them out this time.

_Keyloggers, Data mining tools, WireShark...Wait, what's that?_

An unfamiliar looking program caught Jackson's eye. It was an exploit of some sort. For what, he didn't know. 

"Hey, what's this?" He pointed at the screen.

"Oh, that? We managed to find an exploit in a normal server through messing around with the stream. It was completely by accident. We never used it, though." Changbin explained as he and Seungmin were the ones who managed to come across is in the first place.

Jae couldn't believe his ears. "Hold up. Are you saying that you guys potentially created a zero-day against Null?" He turned to Bambam, who had a wide grin on his face.

Changbin shrugged. "Never thought about like tha-"

Jackson interrupted. "Have you tested it? Please tell me you've tested it."

"We ran it on a virtual machine, it seemed to be working fine."

Jackson grinned and shook Changbin's shoulders. "Genius kids. We're working with prodigies!" He yelled. Changbin laughed and shooed Jackson's hands away.

"From what I can see," Jae began. "You guys didn't flop as hard as you thought." Chan chuckled. It was nice to be praised every once in a while.

"Wait, I think I have an idea."

Everybody turned to Bambam. "Fire away," Jae responded.

"How about we sell this zero-day to Null?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes the rumors are true i'm actually not dead but that's neither here nor there lol. I wonder if any of y'all will get the reference I made in the chapter summary. I've also been listening to a lot of ateez recently and honestly, I stan.  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	13. ...

Hey peeps! 

So I'm gonna be honest with y'all, I honestly don't know where this fic is headed.

I always had a general idea of how it was gonna turn out in my head, especially the beginning and end, but I feel like this fic is getting a bit boring? I could just be me since I'm the one who has to deal with my own writing when I open up AO3, but I honestly don't think my content has been up to scratch these past few chapters. I'm getting a bit bored. 

So I've decided to turn to you! If there are any ideas for chapters or any kind of subplots that you want to see before I attempt to wrap this story up, drop them in the comments and I'll see what I can do with them! I'll try and think of as much as I can, you call the shots and I'll see what I can come up with it, whether it be angst, soft stuff, a completely different story with a completely different group, whatever. After all, my readers are what give me motivation :)

I'll gather a few suggestions if I get some in the comments and I'll try to amalgamate them into some sort of "middle" If you will, and then I can hopefully start bringing in the ending and maybe work on other things too If I can.

Also, WHAT THE FUCK THIS COMEBACK KILLED ME, CHAN'S ABS? IS THIS ALLOWED?

Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	14. Crazy

Light droplets of rain began to fall from the sky, onto a dark, gloomy city below, perfectly fitting for what Yugyeom and Bambam were about to do. The pair kept their heads down low as they manoeuvred their way through the streets, trying not to lose each other in the process.

It didn't take long for them to find a buyer for the zero-day. In fact, they had found one scarily fast on a forum, a forum that was specifically for black hat groups to sell and buy whatever they needed. The original poster claimed that they were a member of null, but didn't explain why they needed the zero-day, which heightened Yugyeom's hunch that they needed it to attack Stray Kids, to undo the damage that the younger ones had gathered on the group. Although the last attack was a physical one, he didn't like the idea of something like that happening again. 

"Where did this guy want to meet us?" The maknae slowed down a little and walked closer alongside Bambam.

"Outside the old oil refinery." Yugyeom paused. "Did you bring it?"

Bambam tapped his front pocket. "Yeah."

Yugyeom nodded to himself, feeling relieved that they might have some ounce of protection while dealing with this transaction. Bambam had brought a penknife in his pocket, not knowing if they were going to have company or not. Using an encrypted chat, Bambam and the buyer agreed that they would go in alone, but believing strangers on the internet wasn't the brightest idea.

The rain started to get heavier as the pair walked faster to the oil refinery. It was a run down place for sure, a perfect hotspot for drugs and cool graffiti. It had been brought back to life by young drug dealers and angsty teens who were desperate to get out their anger through art. 

Bambam swung his legs over the broken down fence and turned to face Yugyeom again. "If I don't come back, It's your job to pet every single dog in Korea for me, 'kay?"

Yugyeom chuckled, shoving him playfully. "Fuck off. We're doing this for Stray kids, at least take it somewhat seriously."

Bambam grinned and pulled his hood and mask up, his identity somewhat hidden, he jogged down the hill, onto the pathway and disappeared behind one of the large tanks that were protruding from the ground. His echoed footsteps ceased, the silence was making Yugyeom uncomfortable. 

The maknae waited, listening out for any little noises that indicated something about his best friend. His senses were dialled to eleven, his eyes darting around to check for people or cars. He could feel his heart beating faster for every minute that passed. He pushed his hat down further to shield his eyes from anyone passing.

_5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes..._

_Shit shit shit..._

Finally, Bambam emerged from the refinery at the same pace he had gone in. It gave Yugyeom a sense of relief, knowing that they weren't going to be chased or hunted down. Bambam jumped the fence again. "And he lives to see another day." He started to wave the money he had gotten in Yugyeom's face.

"I thought I was gonna pass out." Yugyeom huffed. He patted his friend on the shoulder as they turned around to walk home. "Maybe we should go the long way home."

Bambam turned. "Why?"

"So they don't get a direct route to where their prime targets are?"

"Makes sense."

The pair turned around and began to head directly for the city, that way was longer and far more complicated. "How much did we get for it?"

Bambam began to count the money discreetly. "₩600000"

Yugyeom's eyes widened. "That's a complete joke."

"I told the guy I needed to get rid of it, so I acted desperate for any amount." 

"Intellectual." Yugyeom tapped the side of his head with his finger and then pointed to his Thai counterpart, making him laugh as they walked home, satisfied with their job.

 

Being greeted by a slightly annoyed Jaebum wasn't on the maknaes' to-do list, but it happened often. 

Yugyeom began. "Before you yell, we were just-"

"Save it, I know where you went. Jackson told me." He sat back against the counter. "But why? you better have a good excuse for selling a zero-day to the enemy."

A shit eating grin spread across Bambam's face as well as Yugyeom's. "We put a payload in it." 

Jaebum's expression changed. "What? how?"

"We bugged it, polymorphic code. Whenever the zero-day is used or plugged into something, it pulls the data and sends it right back to us. Encrypted of course."

Jaebum's eyes widened, he tried not to make it obvious that he was smiling. "That's the smartest thing I've ever seen you two do."

"Hyung!"

"It wasn't all us anyway. Binnie helped too. If anyone, thank him." Yugyeom said. 

Jaebum nodded, looking like he was deep in thought. "If we keep going like this, I don't think we're going to be stopped." 

Yugyeom liked the sound of that. 

 

Upon hearing the news that Bambam's idea had worked, a small celebration was planned in Got7's living room using the money they had collected from the zero-day. Everyone congregated in the dorm and shoved as many chairs, blankets and comfy things that the space around the TV would allow.

The sight of everything and everyone looking so soft and comfortable as a movie played on the screen put everything in perspective for Chan. He never would've thought that his group would have gotten this close to their seniors. Seeing Day6 dote over Jisung and seeing how Got7 were taking the roles of protective big brothers solidified that. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, they needed the comfort, the validation, the security from their other hyungs. There was only so much that the older members of Stray Kids could provide.

A few people had already fallen asleep. Hyunjin was squished between Jinyoung and Jaebum, nobody could remember how he ended up there in the first place. Seungmin's head was rested on Youngjae's shoulder, eyes closed. Jae had accidentally fallen asleep on Felix, and the boy was clearly struggling to get him off, but after a while, there was no struggle anymore.

Jeongin's sleepy breaths from the comfort of Woojin's lap made the leader realize that they were all still alive. The only thing left to do was to keep it that way. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everybody who commented on my last post, apologies if this is a little short <3


	15. Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungmin and Jeongin walk home from school.

Seungmin stopped leaning against the wall of the school once he saw Jeongin emerge from the large double doors, along with many other students. He adjusted his schoolbag and pulled out his earphones, getting ready to walk home.

Jeongin finished up his conversation with his friends and turned to face Seungmin. "Who's bringing us home today?"

Seungmin shook his head as they began to walk, trying not to hold up the crowd behind them. "Nobody, we gotta walk home alone today. Everyone's really busy and waiting around for that data to come back." 

"Ah." Jeongin nodded. Surprisingly, he wasn't very bothered by the fact that they had to walk home by themselves. The days were getting longer, little by little, and there were people around for the majority of their journey home, so what was the problem? 

_Why does Seungmin hyung sound so insecure about this?_

The pair crossed the road and leapt onto the path, dodging the puddles along the side of the road. Seungmin decided to spark a conversation, upon remembering that Jeongin had walked out with Chunso. "Did anything ever come of your friend's sister?"

Jeongin's expression changed to one of sadness, he instantly knew which friend Seungmin was talking about. "Nope, nothing, not even a ransom note." 

Seungmin swore under his breath as they cut across the street. "Do you have any idea what's gonna be next? I guess there's not much you can do if your sister has gone missing."

"Their family reckon the police aren't doing as much as they should be doing," Jeongin explained. "They just think she's some kind of troubled teenager who wanted more freedom, so they think she ran away on purpose. Nothing has been said about foul play." Jeongin fired the stone he was kicking into the alleyway. "Yet."

"That's completely nuts. She comes from a good home. That motive is just lazy." Seungmin scowled. If the girl had run away on purpose, surely she would have camped at a friend's house, right?

"I don't know. I think the police are just slowly giving up and firing out any ideas they have." Without any prompt from Seungmin, Jeongin looked over his shoulder once or twice as they were passing the newsagents, his eyebrows scrunching together in-between each glance. "Hey, hyung?"

"Yeah?"

His voice lowered. "Is it just me or has that car been following us for a while now?"

_What the fuck?_

Trying not to make it obvious, Seungmin turned slightly. A navy coloured car with blacked out windows was travelling along the road behind them. It was slow enough to look suspicious for the boys, but not slow enough to look suspicious for anyone else. It looked like that whoever was driving was just looking for parking. The car was too dirty to even see the number plate.

_This isn't good..._

Seungmin's head snapped forward as he leaned into Jeongin. "Let's go up the street and take a left at the top, then take a right into the park. If he follows us into the park I'm calling someone."

The maknae nodded, his hands getting noticeably shaky. Seungmin hissed at him again. "Don't make it too obvious that we know what's going on. Let's just talk about something different."

Despite the pair bursting into a conversation about a random album, there were only two things on Seungmin's mind.  _Don't let them find out where we live. Keep Innie safe._

Their pace had quicked, although neither of them noticed it as they reached the top of the road. Without faltering, the two made a left turn. The car followed.

_Don't let them find out where we live._

Their pace never wavered as they bounded in the direction of the park, Seungmin pulling Jeongin along like a parent dragging a child who was falling behind. They wasted no time in crossing the road as it cleared. The gates to the park were thankfully, wide open. The car followed

_Keep Innie safe._

Seungmin pushed the maknae in front of him and to the side a little, indicating to walk onto the green, away from the road where the car would be. Jeongin got the message and continued walking as if nothing was wrong.

"There's good phone service near the bathrooms, we should go there." Jeongin huffed, tired from all the borderline running they had been doing. Seungmin pulled the youngest in front of him again, launching him further away from the road. 

_At least if they get one of us, they'll get me first._

Much to their dismay, the bathrooms were along the roadside. Meaning if they didn't hide, they would definitely be seen by whoever was in the car.

"Get behind the building and take off your jacket. It's too bright." Seungmin was already unbuttoning his jacket as he spoke, stuffing his phone in his pocket. They managed to make it behind the building at a blind spot in the perspective of the car. 

The two sat down on their jackets, retrieving their phones from their pockets as they did. Seungmin scrolled through his contacts.  ** _Channie Hyung._**

He hit call and pressed his device to his ear. It wasn't long before the call cut to the leader's voicemail. Seungmin scowled and hung up. "He's not answering, his phone must be off." 

"Fuck. Maybe we can try Woojin hyung?" Seungmin tried to ignore the fact that Jeongin had just sworn. It was seldom that the maknae actually swore.

"Nah, he's useless with his phone. It's like he throws it into a river after we text."

"Fair point."

Jeongin kept scrolling through his contacts **. Minho Hyung ^-^**

 **"** I'll try texting Minho hyung. He might read it." Just as Jeongin was about to type, the rumbling sound of a car filled the air. Seungmin grabbed Jeongin's arm and pressed his finger to his lips. "Shh!"

Jeongin shuffled closer to Seungmin, holding his breath as he typed.

**Me: Hyung? Are you there?**

**Minho Hyung ^-^: Maybe**

**Me: There's a blacked out car following us. We can't get home bc we didn't want to lead anyone to the dorms.**

**Minho Hyung ^-^: Are you sure the car is actually following you?**

**Me: Yeah hyung, we walked in random directions to see if it would follow us and it did. It was driving really slowly behind us the whole time.**

**Minho Hyung ^-^: Fuck. It could be Null. Where are you now?**

**Me: We are hiding in the park behind the bathrooms. I'll ping you the location in a sec. The car is outside the bathrooms now but I don't think they can see us**

**_Minho Hyung ^-^ is typing..._  
**

**Minho Hyung ^-^: Just stay where you are, hyung will come get you, okay?? Keep me on speed dial <3**

Jeongin pushed his hair off of his forehead in frustration, he wasn't sure how much longer he could wait with a potential creep just metres away from them. The rumbling of the car was still persisting. Seungmin pulled Jeongin closer to him, arm locked around his shoulder.

"What do we do if they find us?" 

Seungmin turned to face the youngest, not sure how to answer. "We fight and we run, that's what we do."

The rumbling of the car went on for what seemed like hours on that tiny patch of grass behind the bathrooms. But eventually, it died down, giving the maknaes time to breathe. Jeongin felt his phone buzz. 

**Minho Hyung ^-^: I'm at the ass end of the park. Do you think you can make it to that gate?**

Jeongin hesitated before texting back. With all the courage he had, he peered past the wall onto the road. There was no blacked out car and no shady looking characters around. 

**Me: Yeah. We'll be out in a minute.**

Jeongin showed Seungmin the texts before the pair stood up, legs stiff from sitting in the same position for so long. Without looking back, they bolted out of their hiding spot in the direction of the south facing gate.

 

 

"Hyung, you're gonna cut off the circulation in my arm."

Seungmin looked down and realised that he was still holding onto Jeongin's arm like a leech as they walked. "Oh yeah. sorry"

He let go of the maknae's arm, which had turned pink from Seungmin holding onto it for so long. 

Minho didn't ask too many questions as he led the boys through the alleys of the city. It was too dangerous to be walking around on main streets, where they could be seen. He looked back every so often to see if they were being followed, but it seemed like the person in the car hadn't seen the boys leaving the park. There was no evidence that they were being followed anymore. 

"I've never been this way before..." Jeongin huffed as they walked. It was true, the maknae had never truly explored the city, especially the back alleys. They were almost like secret pathways or portals for people who truly knew the city, how it operated,  _who_ operated it.

"I used to come down through here all the time if things ever went south during a tagging session or a protest. It has never failed me yet." He turned back around to make sure that the younger ones were still following him as they turned through the maze-like back roads. "With how things are turning out now, we should be using it way more often."

Before they knew it, they were back onto the familiar street of the JYP building. Their own back street. Their haven.

"Quickly, get inside." Minho moved to let the younger ones in first and scanned around one last time for any sign of the group being followed. Satisfied, he followed them in and shut the door behind him. 

 

"What?"

A look of despair spread across Chan's face as Minho stated what had happened. The groups stopped what they were doing in regards to the data mining to listen to what the trio had to say. 

"They were followed, hyung. They were being hunted down. They tried calling you but you didn't pick up..." Minho's voice was laced with disappointment and venom. He didn't care if anyone noticed or said. He tossed his phone on the chair next to him and sat down, not looking at the leader. 

Knowing that Minho wasn't going to talk anymore, Seungmin continued. "W-we were walking home from school and Innie noticed a car following us. We didn't come home because we didn't want the person finding out where we live, so we ran into the park and hid."

Chan swore quietly and without any indication, he pulled the two into a bone crushing hug. Seungmin was slightly taken aback, but Jeongin hugged back instantly, desperate for some kind of comfort.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer, my phone was off, and-"

"It's okay hyung." Seungmin answered. "You didn't ignore us on purpose."

"Did you catch a number plate?" Mark asked. 

Jeongin shook his head. "No. The car was way too dirty to see one."

A few people stood up to see if the maknaes had been injured or not, but thankfully nothing was out of place.

"It was smart what you two did, not coming home." Wonpil praised them as Chan let them go. "I honestly wouldn't have thought of that, but you should've called one of us sooner. That could've turned messy."

"Agreed." Jackson said, folding his arms. "What if you got hurt?" 

"But we didn't." 

"That's not the point, Seungmi-"

The conversation was interrupted by Jae frantically waving his hand, gesturing for everyone to come over. Hushed conversations filled the room as everyone tried to congregate around the laptop Jae was sitting at, back hunched. 

"I found what we're looking for."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has been sticking with this story, and to anybody who has just picked it up <3  
> What are your thoughts on the comeback? Honestly, most of the songs are absolute bops but maze of memories just ain't sticking with me. Who knows, it might grow on me :l  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	16. Stratagem

Nobody dared to speak as Jae began pointing to the screen at different anomalies he had found in what the fake zero-day had brought back

"I'm not exactly sure exactly where I pulled this from, but that whole car situation was definitely planned by Null." He gestured to Seungmin and Jeongin as he spoke about their "car" situation. 

"Huh? how can you tell?" Changbin asked, intrigued. After all, he had a hand in creating that zero-day, but he didn't tell it to pull specific bits of information or look out for certain keywords.

"I'm pretty sure this was pulled from their records. If you look here," He started pointing towards a chunk of text on the screen. "Most of it is encrypted, but under each, it says Protocol complete. There are five similar-looking chunks in the record files. Only four of them say Protocol complete. The last one says Protocol error."

"Where are you getting with this?" Jinyoung's eyebrows scrunched together. 

"There have been four incidents with Null, right? The girl in the basement, the girl in the park, stuff like that. What I'm thinking..."

Chan interrupted. "You're thinking that the error was the fact that they didn't get their hands on Seungmin and Innie?" 

"Bingo." Jae pointed to Chan in an almost congratulating manner. "And the fact that it was found in their records, they would obviously need to document if something didn't go ahead, right?" 

Everyone started talking again, giving their own inputs and bringing up other things that they had found. Jae suddenly became very quiet, adjusting his glasses as he leaned in closer to the screen. The zero-day had brought in more files. Sungjin noticed the sudden change in his friend's attitude, and stood behind his chair, observing. 

**FILE NAME: PROJECT STRAY (2019)**

**FILE NAME: PROJECT TURBULENCE (2015)**

**FILE NAME: PROJECT MOONRISE (2012)**

 

 "What the fuck?" Minho muttered.

"Language."

Minho rephrased. "Sorry, whom the fuck?"

"That's not what I mea-"

"Can everyone shut up for a minute?" Jae said, taking the plunge and clicking into project stray. It took a moment to load. But what eventually loaded in was terrifying. 

It was a bunch of pictures, random pictures of Stray Kids going about their daily lives. Jae kept flicking through them. There were pictures of Minho and Jisung walking down the street, pictures of Hyunjin entering their building from the back entrance, there were even pictures of Jeongin and Seungmin walking home from school. Woojin subconsciously stood in front of Felix and Jeongin. He could block them from seeing the photos, but he knew he couldn't block what was coming for them.

"I'm gonna be sick..." Dowoon muttered.

Hushed, terrified whispers filled the room as Chan stared in horror. "T-That's not possible, how did they-"

The leader couldn't even complete his sentence as he watched Jae click on Turbulence. The camera quality was slightly worse, indicating the pictures were a little older.

Pictures of the girls from Twice loaded in, they were along the same lines as Stray Kids, although a bit more provocative. Pictures of the girls getting changed and zoomed in pictures of the girl's chest areas were common. 

At random intervals, a picture of Yugyeom, Bambam or Youngjae would pop up, indicating that they were somehow apart of this Project Turbulence. Jinyoung noticed Jaebum's face getting gradually paler as Jae scrolled through the photos, as if he had seen them before.

Jinyoung gave him a look, a look that screamed: "You knew, didn't you?"

"Wait for a second, scroll up..." Yugyeom bent down beside Jae and froze. It was a baby picture, the picture that Yugyeom's mother had in her living room. 

"W-What? That's me!" Yugyeom stood up fully, his height returning to him as he faced Jaebum, seeing his facial expression. "Hyung, did you know?" 

Jaebum nodded with a look that could only be described as guilty. "Why did you think I pulled us out? Why do you think I didn't let you and Bammie go?"

An awkward silence ensued before Bambam muttered a "Thanks, hyung."

Jae clicked into Moonrise, which was a useless file. "Nothing must've been done with this one..."

"This is completely fucking nuts." Jackson ran his hand through his hair and sighed, watching as Wonpil began to close the blinds. "They aren't getting any photos tonight."

"Okay, has anyone found anything else that might be useful?" Jaebum asked in an attempt to change the subject. Felix raised his small hand, not letting his eyes move from the screen. 

"I have a list, some are checked and some aren't." He pushed the laptop in Mark's direction, as he was the nearest person to him. Mark began looking through what Felix had found, scanning for anything that was out of order or seemed suspicious. 

"It's all just a bunch of coordinates," Mark confirmed. "We should punch a few of these in and see if they mean anything."

Mark called out the coordinates, and whoever had a laptop punched them into Maps, to find completely random locations to some. 

"I found an apartment."

"The second one is the park."

"I got another apartment block."

"I got the corner store, the one near us."

Mark's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "I don't get it. There's nothing that could link these places."

"Wait, hyung." Jisung replied. "All of these places have been tagged."

"What do you mean?"

"All of these places have been tagged by Null. See? That's where we tried to save the lady, that's where Jeonginnie found the tag behind the coffee machine." Jisung pointed to each set of coordinates, except for three at the very end.

Changbin appeared beside Jisung and Mark, looking at the coordinates. "Holy shit, you're right!"

"Somebody punch in the other three, I'll call them out," Mark said, getting excited that they might have found some leverage on Null. Changbin, Dowoon and Youngjae each dived for a laptop, waiting for the second eldest to call out the numbers. 

Changbin's fingers typed at lightning speed. "Myeongdong underground."

"Another apartment block."

"Metropolitan library, near the city hall." 

Chan could feel the excitement beginning to build up around him as everyone began discussing what to do with the new intel. Some people's ideas were achievable, while other's weren't as realistic, mainly Jackson's.

Suddenly, Jeongin raised his voice a little. "Hey! I have an idea!" 

The crowd quietened a little as the maknae voiced his idea. "You'll probably all yell at me for this, but how about I go to one of the locations as bait? I mean, they seem pretty desperate to get me if they tailed Seungmin and me in a car."

Minho let out a fake laugh. "That's fucking hilarious, Jeongin-ah." 

Jeongin's brow furrowed. "I'm serious, hyung! They prefer to go after younger people, right? Then I'm very fitting."

Younghyun sighed. "I'm sorry, baby, but there's no way we're letting you out there alone with them. We should think of something else instead of putting your safety at risk."

"He won't be alone." 

Felix stood beside Jeongin, facing the crowd. "Are you seriously encouraging this?" Chan shrieked, absolutely against the idea.

"He has a point, hyung, if we do plan an ambush of some sort, they'd probably go for us rather than you."

"It's worth a shot, the more people we have on the field the better," Jisung said, passion rising in his voice.

"If you're trying to plan some kind of self-sacrifice mission it's not working," Minho growled. "We need to be careful with this, we can't just go in there guns blazing."

Chan turned to look at Jaebum and Sungjin. "Please tell them that this isn't funny."

Jaebum shrugged his shoulders, knowing that his answer was going to be controversial. "I mean, we have to keep all options open."

Chan looked like he wanted to scream, but refrained. "Keep all options open? since when is leading my youngest members into the fray an option?" 

Jaebum stood up, visibly annoyed. "You're not the only one who had to deal with this, Chan-ah. Remember who you're with here."

Sungjin could practically see this situation escalating as the two leaders stared each other down. He stood in the middle of them in an attempt to make peace. Nobody said anything.

"I think we should listen to what the maknaes have to say."

Felix spoke up. "I think it could work. If we plan it out then we could plan some kind of ambush, maybe?" 

"We'll be there the whole time." Jackson placed a reassuring hand on the leader's shoulder. "They'll be protected."

Chan sighed, knowing that the others were right. Their best bet was making someone look vulnerable, but then suddenly showing strength. And he knew the best people to do the job were the maknaes. His small, naive maknaes.

"I guess it could work. But I swear if Null touches a single hair on their heads, they better start running."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got pen all over my RJ pillow I'm such a FUCKING IDIOT  
> In other news, I think I have an idea of how this is going to go, and it does involve putting the baby maknae bois in danger bc I'm bored and I need some of that good shit.  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	17. 404

"But hyung!"

"Seungmin-ah, for the last time, you have to stay here."

Seungmin stepped back and huffed in defeat, watching the others loading up into the van. It was decided that Felix, Jeongin and Jisung were being used as bait, while Seungmin was asked to stay behind for encryption purposes and to keep an eye on the zero-day, as well as monitoring the different areas that the maknaes were going to be. 

The plan was simple. Deploy the maknaes in the different areas that null was going to attack and wait. Chan, Jaebum, Jackson, Woojin, Younghyun and Changbin would keep a close eye on the three from a distance. They would wait until the maknaes were threatened and then strike, try and grab a member of the black hat group and make a run for it. All while trying not to get killed or even worse, caught by the cops.

Everybody got into the van with Jaebum driving. With one last wave goodbye, and a few good lucks thrown in, the doors to the van closed and they drove off. 

Jae noticed how annoyed Seungmin looked as they began to walk inside to set up. He placed his hand on his shoulder. "I know you wanna go with them, but it would look suspicious if there were a bunch of kids out at night from the same faction, plus I don't think anybody could beat your encryption skills."

That comment made Seungmin smile, but Jae could still tell that he was pissed off. 

"Plus, it's freezing out there. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be in here where it's toasty." Jae and Seungmin were falling behind from the crowd. "C'mon. Let's catch up and get to work..."

 

The van was quiet as they drove to the station. The ride in the back of the van was a bumpy one, to say the least. Jaebum turned on the radio to try and break some of the tension, but it wasn't working, nothing would've.

Jisung knew that his stop was close. He couldn't see as there were no windows in the back of the van, but he could just tell. He leaned forward a little and turned his head to the side, clasping his hands together, they were noticeably sweaty.

_It'll be okay, right?  hyungs have our backs_

_They'll be watching us the whole time. Nothings gonna happen. I'm pretty sure I saw Jackson hyung with a gun or something._

_What if they aren't watching? what if they look away and I get grabbed?  Changbin hyung would kill me before they ever would if he found out I was being that clueless. What if I can't scream? what if they gag me? what if-_

"Jisung-ah. Your stop." Jaebum's voice brought him back to reality, unsettling thoughts still lingering in his head as the van slowed down and Jaebum got out to open the van's back doors. They could only be opened from the outside.

Jackson and Younghyun got out as they had been assigned to Jisung. The squirrel saw Chan whisper something to Younghyun before he got out. Chan turned and put his hands on Jisung's shoulders.

"Listen to me, Sungie. I know you don't do it often but for once just listen..." the leader began. "This is up to you now, okay? Jackson hyung and Younghyun hyung can only do so much. You're on the front lines. Please, don't do anything stupid." He paused and looked at the collar of Jisung's shirt. "Is the earpiece working?"

Younghyun broke in. "All of them are, we tested them before we left." 

"Good." Chan sighed. With one final, lingering hug, he gently shoved Jisung out of the van with Jackson and Younghyun. With nothing else to say, the van was closed and it drove back into the night, out of sight. 

"Well..." Jackson said, smirking as he began waving his arms at the nearest security camera. "Can you guys see us?" 

The comms went static in their earpieces before Jae's voice could be heard.  **"Without a doubt."**

 

The van was eerily empty, despite only three people being gone. Felix noticed that Chan's eyes had gone a little red as if he had been crying. He started to feel guilty, knowing that it was their plan that had caused it. He turned away and leaned up against Jeongin.  _Out of sight, out of mind._

He could feel Jeongin shaking as the van started to slow down again. It was almost like a domino effect, because now Felix was starting to feel nervous again, just as he had managed to calm himself down. The van's doors clicked and opened. Felix swung his legs back around and stood up, ready to exit with Jaebum and Changbin.

He felt semi-safe with the two, knowing that Changbin could be extremely aggressive when he wanted to be despite his size and that Jaebum was a leader and had a history of getting his group out of sticky situations (story credit to Bambam and Yugyeom)

"Felix, come back here for a sec." Now that Chan was talking in English, Felix could feel his heartbeat begin to quicken. The leader only spoke to him in English on two occasions. If he needed comforting, or if they were in a situation like this.

"Stuff like this doesn't happen often. I know that you're nervous but just try to stand your ground, okay?" 

Felix frowned. "I'm not nervous."

Chan laughed to himself. "You think I can't tell? How stupid do you think I am?"

Felix smirked back. "Extremely." 

Chan hugged his Australian counterpart, not letting go very easily. "Give em' hell." 

Changbin and Jaebum nodded, getting the message loud and clear.

 

Woojin was a careful driver, and Jeongin was grateful for that. Otherwise, he would have vomited right then and there, from the nerves and the motion combined. The youngest didn't listen to what Chan and Woojin were talking about, he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to care. 

He felt guilty at the fact that he didn't feel safe with Chan and Woojin at that point in time.  _They're my hyungs! if anything, they're too protective of everyone. Remember when Felix-hyung was being bullied in school? Chan and Woojin hyung were ticking time bombs. They even went to the school themselves to sort it._

_Or when Changbin hyung came home with a black eye? they didn't stop until they got to the bottom of it._

_Or when Hyunjin hyung was having nightmares? they even considered paying for a doctor's appointment if he needed it._

_Yeah, they'll protect me, right?_

"Innie, what are you staring at?" Woojin saw the maknae staring into space from the mirrors. Jeongin turned his head. "Nothing, hyung, I'm just thinking." 

Woojin nodded, turning at the intersection and heading down a back road. A road with little room or light. Jeongin poked his head in between the two front seats. "Where are we? I thought I had to go to the apartment blocks?"

"We are, they aren't that far away. I'm just parking here so our van doesn't get stolen or something." The maknae nodded, understanding why. If a random van with all its lights on was found near Null, they would obviously investigate it, or perhaps even take it.

The trio got out of the van, and Chan could hear the slight static noise of his earpiece.  **"You don't have much time, Channie. They'll be here soon, set up as quickly as you can."  
**

Jae's voice disappeared before Chan could ask any more questions. He figured that they shouldn't talk much during this. 

You never know who's listening.

 

Back in the JYP building, things were running as smoothly as they could've gone at that point in time. Seungmin and Dowoon were keeping a close eye on the zero-day, giving updates every few minutes as if they were "shitty news reporters." as Yugyeom had called them. It wasn't long before everyone was stationed at their monitors with their earpieces. 

Minho and Jinyoung were assigned to Jisung and his group. Wonpil and Hyunjin were assigned to Felix, and Yugyeom and Bambam were assigned to Jeongin. Jae and Sungjin overlooked everyone and made sure nothing was going wrong, while Youngjae and Mark kept an eye on the other nearby cameras, they were essentially the shot callers for the team as they could see who was coming before anyone else could.

Minho barely took his eyes off the screen as he watched Jisung wander around aimlessly around the underground. He could see Younghyun and Jackson positioned in an alley behind a few bins, which gave him a little comfort. Despite that, it was still nerve-racking to sit there, watching the younger members of the team go toe to toe with a dangerous group of people.

"There's a van going for Jisung, should be there in about a minute," Youngjae called. Minho nodded, trying to stay calm as he brought the microphone to his lips. "Sungie-ah. Null are gonna be there in one minute. Are you sure you're okay?" He smiled as Jisung turned and gave a thumbs up to the camera that Jinyoung had tapped into. 

He then selected Jackson's channel. "Youngjae hyung says Null should be there in a minute, tops. Be ready." 

"Copy that."

Minho watched Jackson nudge Younghyun as they kept their eyes locked on the street across the way. 

"Another van coming for Felix. Be ready." Mark pointed in Wonpil and Hyunjin's direction and turned back to the screen. 

Hyunjin flipped the camera and brought his mouthpiece closer to his mouth. "Get ready, Lix."

"It's like they're all coming in at once..." Youngjae said to himself, slightly horrified. "Someone tell Chan that they're heading in Jeongin's direction."

"On it." Without taking his eyes away from the screen, Yugyeom spoke to Chan. "Don't mean to alarm you, but Null's on Jeongin's ass. Be careful." 

"We will." Chan responded almost immediately. "We found a pretty good spot to keep an eye on everything. We got lu-" 

As if on que, the room dimmed, and suddenly turned to darkness. The only light was the city lights illuminating the room from outside. No monitors were on, everybody was cut off from each other. Silence ensued.

It wasn't until a few nanoseconds later that Hyunjin actually realized how badly things had turned. 

"What the fuck was that?" 

"I think someone cut the power." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm updating this from a hotel and tbh if this doesn't end up being uploaded I'm not surprised, the WiFi is terrible.  
> I hate updating on mobile, tbh don't be surprised if there are typos in this chapter bc I can type with a lot more speed and accuracy on pc rather than mobile lol. Sorry for the cliffhanger btw :))))  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	18. Empty

"Minho-ah?"

Silence.

"Is there anything else around?"

Silence. 

Jackson's face scrunched up in confusion. Minho had literally just been talking, and all of a sudden he wasn't answering?  _This isn't the time to be playing games._

"Try Jinyoung's channel, maybe Minho's is just malfunctioning or something," Younghyun suggested, keeping his eyes fixated on the area around the two. He had been even more alert after Minho had announced that Null was on its way, out for Jisung. Out for  _blood._

Jackson fiddled with the earpiece and called out Jinyoung's name, nothing came out of that either. Just an eerie silence.

"Something must've happened, they wouldn't leave the line like that." Jackson hissed. Before he could continue talking, Younghyun grabbed Jackson and pulled him behind the dumpster, the sound of a vehicle stopping in near distance. Jackson peeked over the dumpster and upon seeing Jisung's panic-stricken face (which he was desperately trying to hide in front of his seniors) he knew it was time. 

"I'll head around the back, you get around the station. We'll surprise them." Jackson and Younghun stayed low as they exited through the end of the alley they were in. They separated ways, Jackson going left and Younghyun going right. That street was empty, much to their delight.

They began to pick up the pace, knowing that Jisung's safety was in their hands. Jisung tried to look clueless to the van's sudden appearance. He looked upwards, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. He managed to take a quick glance at the security camera in the corner. No LED was emitting from the device, and it wasn't rotating like it was supposed to. 

_Damn, a CCTV jammer? They came prepared._

Jisung let out a shaky sigh and stood up to walk past the van, just like Jackson and Younghyun had discussed.  _Where are they? I saw them across the street a minute ago._

 

Changbin began waving his arms to signal to Felix. He didn't want to shout for him, upon hearing that a Null van could show up any second. He waved his arm to get the Australian's attention. Felix had been zoned out, and the elder's waving brought him back to reality.

He squinted and could see Changbin pointing at his earpiece and mouthing something. Felix wasn't good at reading lips, but he managed to make out something along the lines of "Is your earpiece working?"

Changbin smiled when Felix nodded in realisation at what he was saying. Jaebum watched carefully as Felix began talking quietly and pulling at the wires of his earpiece. He turned back to the two and shook his head. 

"Fuck. Something must've stopped working."

Jaebum's eyebrows furrowed. "Impossible. We tested everything before we left, there's nothing wrong with them."

Changbin paused, trying to come up with a logical explanation. "Maybe it's not on our end, maybe it's-"

He was interrupted by the sound of a vehicle coming near. "Get down!" Jaebum hissed, pulling the younger into the darkness of the alley behind them. Changbin's heart nearly stopped as he watched a dark coloured jeep cruise by the alley from the safety of Jaebum's arms, as if they were looking for something, or someone. 

"I think that's them," Jaebum whispered, letting go of Changbin and crept up the alley, trying to stay undetected. It was then that Changbin began to realise that this was their first time actually dealing with null, in person that is. Face to face.

_Who are they going to be? Tall men in masks? older women, looking innocent but with a darker intention? teenagers looking for extra cash?_

_I don't want to find out._

 

Sungjin peered out the window at the area below their section of the building. No other buildings had lost power or showed any signs of an electrical fault.

_This isn't a power outage, is it?_

"I'll go down and check the fuse boxes, anyone coming?" Wonpil asked, his phone's flashlight facing the window. Other people had turned on their phone flashlights for convenience. 

"I'll come." Minho volunteered, as did Sungjin, Seungmin and Yugyeom. 

"If anything seems off, take a picture or call us, do something anyway," Jinyoung said, not phased by the darkness that surrounded him.

The five left the dorm, turning off their phone flashlights while doing so. "How are the hall lights still on if our side is completely out?" Seungmin asked as they bounded to the stairs.

"Different fuses cover different things, different rooms, so maybe ours just tripped," Wonpil said as the group approached the stairs. "I hope so."

"God, I hope the others are okay, they have no communications now that we're down." Sungjin groaned, hastily making his way down the many flights of stairs to the basement.

Nobody said anything, but everyone stopped dead in their tracks once they saw the basement door wide open from the top of the stairs. 

"Is someone here?" Minho hissed, watching the door as if it was about to jump out at him.

Nobody answered his question, and Sungjin started to slowly make his way down the stairs, Yugyeom and Seungmin following close behind. Minho didn't know what to expect, his fight or flight kicking in once the group reached the bottom of the stairs.

The basement was dark, but a single flashlight from the back of the room illuminated the corner of Sungjin's vision. The leader held up his hand, indicating for everyone behind him to stop moving.

_Someone's down here._

Sungjin wasn't sure if the person who was in the basement noticed that the group was there, which was an advantage. Feeling confident, the leader swiftly bounded to the wall across from the stairs, using the darkness as cover. "Follow me." He mouthed to the others.

The wall wasn't big enough for all of them to hide behind, which prompted Sungjin to move quickly. As quickly as he could've moved without making noise, that is. Yugyeom covered his mouth with his hand to hush his breathing, which had quickened as soon as they entered the basement.

The figure was in full view now, hunched around the fuse box like an animal of some sort. The figure had a hood over their head, masking their identity to some degree. By the person's body and overall stature, Seungmin could safely conclude that it was a man.

The man dropped his flashlight, cursing as it made a loud clatter against the ground. Everybody froze as the man turned around to pick it up. He stared at them, his eyes piercing into their souls. Sungjin stared back, not knowing what to do next.

The man slowly bent down and picked up the flashlight, it was then that Minho saw his face. His hair was grey, a little greasy too. His chin was covered in grey stubble, his face looking aged beyond his years.

_He looks familiar._

Without warning, Minho lunged at the man, grabbing the flashlight before he could. The man swore and began to make a dash for the door, but Yugyeom and Seungmin managed to catch him before he could get very far. Seungmin felt around the man's jacket pockets.  _No knives, no guns. Good._

Minho shined the flashlight into the man's face, ignoring his struggle. 

"This is the man Jisungie saw in the takeaway. Isn't that right, Park Sungchul?"

Sungchul looked at him, puzzled. "How do you know my name?" 

Sungjin shook him a little. "That doesn't matter. Why the fuck are you down here? Why did you cut our power?" Sungjin cut straight to the point, his tone clearly demanding answers. Seungmin had never heard him talk like that, and it wasn't very pleasant.

"It was a job. They told me to do it and I obeyed." 

Wonpil was already working on turning the electricity back on, using his phone's flashlight to guide him as the other flashlight was being used for the mini interrogation that was going on behind him. It looked almost comedic.

"Who's they?" Sungjin asked.

Sungchul chuckled. "Are you stupid? I'm sure you of all people should know." His head tilted back towards Seungmin as he spoke. "Oh, we know all right..."

Wonpil turned around. "Power's back, we should bring him upstairs."

 

Sungchul wasn't very cooperative. It took a lot to get him up the stairs, and Wonpil was getting a hunch that it was going to take even more to get him to talk. But they had a lead now, and that's all that mattered. 

"Found him." Was all Wonpil said as Sungjin, Yugyeom and Seungmin dragged Sungchul into the living area. Jinyoung looked at him, disgusted. "Lock the door and tie him up. Then we talk." 

Hyunjin felt Minho leaning over his shoulder, watching. He didn't even have to turn around to know. "They've gone completely off the grid. I don't know if it was because of the power or...something else." 

"Well get going. Find them." Minho didn't mean to sound so venomous, but he was pissed. Pissed that Null had found a way to bite them in the ass. Pissed that they had lost contact. 

Pissed that nobody was home yet. 

Dowoon managed to find two belts to tie up Sungchul with. They sat him down in a chair, firmly holding onto his shoulders so he couldn't escape as Dowoon tied him up. Mark thought it was strange that he wasn't putting up much of a fight, but he decided to ignore that thought and decided to focus on what was in front of him. 

"So..." Mark leaned up against the wall beside Jinyoung. "Do you mind telling us why the hell you were in our basement?" 

Sungchul's demeanour suddenly changed. He looked scared, sympathetic. "P-Please. Don't let me go. They'll kill me."

Mark paused. "Who? Who will kill you?"

Without warning the man burst into tears, catching the attention of everyone else in the room. Seungmin felt bad for tying him up, now that he was in this state.

"N-Null." He sobbed. "They h-have my wife, m-my daughter."

"Woah woah, slow down." Jae lifted his hands into the air slightly. "I understand you're scared, Mr.Park. But we need information from you. We can help you."

"Wait, Jae-" Jinyoung turned to face him, arms still crossed. "How do we know he's telling the truth?" 

Jae ignored his question. "Mr Park. Can you please explain your situation? We won't notify any authorities if you help us." 

Sungchul nodded hastily. "M-My daughter and wife went missing. It must've been a year ago at this point. I-I was so scared. But Null contacted me and said they have my family in their possession." The man took a breath, trying to console himself.

"They said that if I work for them for a certain amount of time, they won't kill or sell my family. I've been smuggling drugs and weapons ever since." 

Jae nodded along.  _Sounds reasonable._ "Have you seen your family since you started working for them?"

Sungchul shook his head. "No. But I do believe they are alive."

Minho butted in. "Then why were you working in the Italian restaurant? The one where-"

"That little kid of yours was? I-I was sent there to spy on him. All of the kids in the area, really. I didn't want to. I felt...dirty. But I will do anything to see my family again."

"Then you're the reason this all started? Because you planted something in his phone when he was paying."

"I had to, I had no other ch-"

Sungchul's sentence was interrupted by Minho's fist colliding with his face. A sickening crack was heard, presumably from his nose. Minho looked at his fist, then back at Sungchul. "That felt fucking amazing." 

"Minho. Go help Hyunjin, cool off." Jinyoung patted his shoulder and motioned for him to sit down. Sunghchul's nose had started to pump blood, but nobody wanted to move to get him a rag. They were only interested in what he had to say. 

Jinyoung bent down, looking at Sungchul directly in the eyes. "I don't know if you're aware, but we are Null's prime targets right now. We're trying to shut them down for good. With all of our efforts combined, we can save your family. We can save everyone. But you have to promise to tell us the truth and comply. Understood?"

Sungchul nodded, his mouth and chin stained red. Jinyoung seemed satisfied. "Good, but we're still keeping you tied up. Someone get him a rag."

"One more thing." Jae asked. "What is your wife's name?"

"P-Park Seonhwa."

"And your daughter."

"Eunha, Park Eunha."

Jae froze. "O-oh, okay."  _Oh no._

 Youngjae sighed in defeat and pushed himself away from the monitor. "We can't get their locations. They're completely off the grid." 

"Are you serious?" Sungjin groaned. "Surely there's something we can do." He made his way over to Youngjae.

As if on cue, a small knock was heard, it even made Bambam jump a little. Nobody said anything.

"I'll get it." Jae stood up and left the room, making his way to the front door. He closed one eye and leaned into the peephole and gasped.

Scrambling for the keys, he managed to grab them from the hook and unlock the door. He was greeted by Jackson. But it wasn't the normal Jackson. Something inside of him had died, he was barely holding on. Jae could tell that much. He looked towards the others. He had never seen so much dread in one room in his life. He could practically feel the bad energy seeping in through the doorway, killing any hope that he had for the outcome of that night.

He found himself counting the number of heads. There were six. 

Jae stared at them in disbelief. "No..."

Jackson finally let his tears fall, the tears that he tried not to shed on the dreadful way back home, for the sake of the others. For the sake of hope.

"W-we lost them."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUUUUUN  
> Okay I sincerely apologize for what is gonna come after this chapter oof.   
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	19. Shanghaied

The only way Felix could only describe the feeling as he was being shoved into the back of the van was drowning. It felt like drowning. Being unable to speak, unable to  _breathe,_ his hearing muffled to the point that nothing was very coherent. He was drowning, but there was no water. Only a bag over his head.

It all happened so fast. One second, he saw Changbin and Jaebum getting ready to pounce as the van pulled up beside him. Then, just before the bag was pulled over his head, they were both on the ground, fighting two masked figures. 

_They knew we were coming._

He wasn't sure how long he was in the van, being poked and prodded with what felt like a knife, but it eventually came to a halt, and the Australian was dragged out of the van like some kind of slave.

"Get up." A rough voice growled as he was picked up again, his legs feeling like jelly. Felix shivered at the sound of his voice and obeyed, walking while being pushed along roughly. It felt like he was playing blind man's buff only, of course, this wasn't a game.

_It never was, was it?_

Shivering out of fear and the cold, a large hand was settled on his shoulder, guiding him into unfamiliar territory. The sound of a large, metal door opening made Felix flinch. Wherever he was, it smelled like a hospital. A drill was heard in the distance, followed by a scream. Whoever was screaming, they were in absolute agony. 

"Sir, we have a new one." 

Felix was pushed into a chair and the bag was ripped off of his head, the lights blinding him. "He's a pretty one, we'll get a lot more profit from him."

_Here we fucking go._

 

Jisung's legs finally gave way as he stumbled to the floor, the blood seeping from the cut on his head finally reaching his mouth. He was now the laughing stock of the whole surgery room, which was the least of his worries. What worried him was what they had injected into his arm. 

Jisung didn't go down without a fight. He bit, scratched, kicked, screamed, did anything to try to get away, but to no avail. He still remembered the haunting screams of Jackson and Younghyun as they were tackled. The bag that was pulled over his head had been hard to breathe in, so he was already a little light headed when the bag was finally taken off and he was assessed by the bosses.

He refused to talk at first, but pissing off Null wasn't the best idea. He soon learned that the hard way. He had never been hit with brass knuckles before, but he soon decided that he disliked the feeling, for obvious reasons.

His vision was blinded by the blood that was dripping from his head as he was led into another room, which was when the strange substance was injected into his arm. It felt heavy and floppy, but it was numb. He could still feel his arm tensing up. "W-what is that?"

Nobody answered his question. Another man in a white puppet mask (puppet masks seemed to be a common theme) turned around and grabbed Jisung's face. He looked up and down Jisung's tiny frame, picking apart every single aspect of it with his eyes, making the squirrel shiver in discomfort. 

"Send him to the augmentation area with the others, selling him would be a waste." 

 

Compared to the others, Jeongin breezed through the "assessment" as the men liked to call it. He spoke only when spoken to, allowed whatever items that he had on his person to be taken away, he decided that he might as well try to get on their good side while he was there. Upon tuning into one of the men's conversations, he soon realised that apparently, although he was "pretty" looking, the orders were already full. Therefore he would be sent to the waiting room.

Two men grabbed him by the shoulders, arms still tied behind his back. He could feel the shorter man's hand shaking in its glove as they walked. 

_First day on the job, maybe?_

 

A familiar scent entered Jeongin's nostrils as they entered a room full of people. It wasn't a scent he could exactly pinpoint, but it was definitely a cologne he had smelled before. A familiar scent,

_The scent of a friend._

"I need to take care of something, take my shift." The taller man left the shorter man alone to guard Jeongin and the 5 others that were in the room with him. The room was damp, cold, clearly lacking in furniture. The people there were silent as soon as Jeongin and the two men entered. He could feel their eyes locking onto him.

"New blood?"

Jeongin looked up. A boy slightly younger than him smiled at him a little. His eyes were red, cheeks tear-stained, brown hair dyed with blood, but for some reason, he still looked hopeful.

"No talking." 

The shorter man shut down the conversation before anything else could be pursued. Jeongin froze in horror.

_I know that voice._

"C-Chunso?"

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if this is a little short, I just decided to come on here and post a little chapter before I disappear due to exams n all that :)))))  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	20. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their worst nightmare had only just begun.

Jaebum couldn't stop pacing. He wanted to stop, but it was like he wasn't even in his own body anymore. He felt numb, out of place with time.

_We lost them._

"How the fuck did they find out?"

Many people were crying, shaking, in denial or all three. Nobody had the mental energy to even be remotely thinking about how they had been tricked by Null. Jinyoung managed to take a shaky breath. "It's like they're always one step ahead of us."

Sungjin flinched at the sight of Hyunjin sobbing into Woojin's shoulder. Hell, looking at the state of the youngest faction was a giant flinch. With three of them missing, it looked like an incomplete puzzle, cards missing from the deck. Woojin held Hyunjin, desperately trying not to cry.

_You're the eldest, don't cry._

_They need you._

Jaebum observed Chan for a little longer than he should've. The leader looked pale, paler than usual. He wasn't crying, he wasn't shaking.  _Nothing._ He was just sitting there, staring at nothing. "Chan-ah, are you okay?"

The leader swallowed. "N-No"

Jae sighed and leaned his head against the wall, arms folded. "So that's it, game over?"

Jackson stood up. "What? No! of course not" He bewailed. "We just...we just need time." He ran his hands through his hair, desperate to find some kind of answer, a sign that they could turn this around. 

"That's the one thing we don't have, hyung..." Seungmin sniffled. "T-they've..."

"Don't say that they've won."

Everyone turned to Sungchul. Frankly, most people had forgotten that he was even there as he watched the situation before him unfold. "They haven't won, not yet. You still have leverage over them."

"Oh yeah, what the fuck is it?" Changbin spat, tears dripping and hands bawled into shaking fists.

"Me"

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Mark spotted the monitor flashing, he could hear it heating up, the fan running like a man in a fire trying to keep the machine cool. "Guys, I think there's something wrong with the-"

Something had already started to happen before anyone could stop it. Woojin recognized the all too familiar broadcasting screen as it began to load. 

"No, no! Shut it off, quick!" He prodded. "Too late," Wonpil muttered as everyone started to crowd around the monitor that was broadcasting. 

Seungmin got up and made his way towards the crowd as he couldn't see. 

_They got what they wanted, right? Why are they broadcasting to us now?_

_Unless..._

Seungmin's hunch had proved to be correct. On the screen were three different feeds. Each containing Jisung, Felix and Jeongin as they looked lifelessly into the camera. They looked tired, defeated. An eerie silence followed once the feed loaded. What were they supposed to do? record it? try to communicate?

"Do they know they're being recorded?" Jinyoung whispered, peering closer to take a better look. Jisung was sporting a gash on his forehead along with a bruised eye. Felix seemed to be okay for the most part, besides a bit of bruising around his neck, and Jeongin had no visible injuries, only a look of terror on his face, like a deer caught in headlights.

"I don't think so..." Jaebum whispered back as he observed the cameras. 

Minho and Changbin watched as their dongsaengs desperately struggled in their bounds, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched by their hyungs. "I-I feel sick watching this..." Changbin murmured.

"I still don't get why they're doing this. They have what they want," Wonpil couldn't pinpoint exactly what the answer could've been. Null was a force that once they strike, they fade into the night. Once they have the people they need, they don't show any signs of them being dead or alive, keeping everyone in the dark.

"I think its to show us that we're useless against them. But they aren't badly hurt, Null must be keeping them alive for some reason..." Jae pondered.

"But they have bruises, they're being hurt!" Yugyeom leaned in and pointed to Felix's neck.

Jinyoung looked closer and froze. "Those aren't bruises, Gyeomie."

"What? I-"

"They're hickeys, someone must've-"

"Don't even finish that sentence, hyung!" Youngjae wailed, turning around and putting his hands on his forehead. 

That was enough to send Changbin running to the bathroom, without a warning. Seungmin followed him and cringed as he heard him eject the contents of his stomach into the toilet. The thought of Felix being touched had literally made him vomit. Seungmin disappeared into the bathroom to help him.

"Jae hyung, is there a way that we could find out where this is being broadcasted from?" Yugyeom questioned. Woojin answered for him. "There's no point. Null is proxied to hell and back, it would take days to get through all of it. Weeks."

Just before Jae could chime in, a sickening scream came from the Livestream. A higher pitched shriek, which Woojin could safely conclude was Jeongin's. People in masks began to surround the maknaes, who were completely at their mercy. 

 **"No, No! What are you doing?! Wha-"** Null clearly hadn't invested in a good camera or audio equipment, but it was definitely Jeongin talking. One of the masked figures punched Jisung in the chest, an awful wheezing noise coming out of him. Younghyun gasped a little and pulled Minho away from the monitor before he could damage anything. Tears began to roll down Minho's flushed cheeks as Younghyun pulled him away, blocking him from the monitor. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear  _everything._ Every cough, splutter and cry that came out of the three.

"Shut it off!" Youngjae hollered over the noise. Jaebum nodded and used as many keyboard commands as possible, realising that the mouse too was compromised. "I can't get out of the program, nothing's working!"

Wonpil struggled and half climbed over the table. He ripped the plug out of its socket and the screen turned black. However, the cries of terror could still be heard through the speakers. 

"Someone please, Turn it off!" Hyunjin whimpered, pushing his hands against his ears in a desperate attempt to block out the horrendous screaming.

Jackson grabbed the two speakers and yanked them out of their place, the sound finally ceasing, as well as the working speakers. He chucked them on the ground before sitting down in a nearby chair, head in hands.

"W-Why? Why now?" Minho faltered, peaking out from behind Younghyun. "Why are they d-doing this to us?"

"It's a sign to back off." Chan finally spoke after what seemed like an eternity, catching everyone's attention. "We aren't giving up, not now, not ever."

"It could take us months to actually track them down. What if they decide to make a run for it, like some kind of scary nomadic tribe?" Jae challenged.

Chan's eyes grew dark. His voice soft, yet dangerous. "Running doesn't matter. I'll hunt them down if I have to."

"Your friend is right." Sungchul chimed in, catching everyone's attention. "Hunt them down, know your plans and strike when they least expect it."

"How do you know that? Why should we even trust you?" Jinyoung spat.

"Because," He began. "My wife and daughter are in there too. Helping you would also help me out in the long run. Why do you think I didn't use this when you found me?" Sungchul shook his leg a little, a switchblade falling out his pant leg. Seungmin ran and swiped it up from the ground. 

"Took you long enough to get caught, now talk..." Younghyun barked, arms folded.

"Null has many different bases all over the country," He stated. "But the main headquarters is here, in Seoul. My best guess? That's where your friends were taken since it's the nearest spot. I know enough about that building to get you in and out, but not where all the equipment and cells are."

"What do you mean,  _equipment_?" Chan queried.

"Wait, you _don't_  know about that? I thought you knew." He said, almost sympathetically. "Null isn't just dealing with drugs and human trafficking anymore. They're investing in a more...modern project."

"Go on..." Jaebum leaned in, intrigued

"Cybernetic augmentation and nanotech. Whatever you wanna call them. It's a young, but wealthy industry, trying to alter humans with technology,"

"Experimental nanotech," Jae nodded. "Profitable? Yeah but, isn't nanotech a good thing? If it's used right it can be used to cure cancer, cure autism. Hell, you could get body modifications that are way beyond piercings and tattoos with this kind of technology."

"That's where you're wrong." Sungchul corrected him. "Null is trying to create a scam. They're creating faulty, deadly nanotech to sell to people. They're putting in deadly properties on purpose."

Jae gasped. "Of course. Killing people from the inside out, with their own technology."

"And they're using the people they capture as lab rats..." Jaebum finalized. "What about the augmentation part?" Things were finally adding up in Jaebum's head. Why Null were so interested in Technology, why they were so interested in kidnapping younger people, because their bodies are still youthful. They were  _perfect_.

"That's where things get a little nasty. Machinery and circuitry are being made for human integration, into people's own flesh and blood. It's completely unsafe. People have been dropping like flies in certain cells. And since there can only be one augmentation per body part, Null has been using people they swipe from the streets as test subjects."

"That's disgusting..." Jackson chided. "Cybernetics, nanotech? And they're still dealing in drugs and human trafficking?"

"That's correct, and from what I saw in that video, your friend could be priced very soon."

Chan shot a look at Sungchul, eyes wide. "W-What?"

"Your friend in the middle, with the freckles. He wasn't being beaten, correct? They're keeping him fresh for a reason. They're trying to keep him in good condition for selling."

Chan leaned back a little, horrified. "Where are they selling him to?"

Sungchul shrugged. "I'm not sure, Null have buyers from all over the country, all over the world."

Chan cursed, his hands starting to get clammy again. He sat down beside Woojin and whispered something to himself, unknown to the others. 

Jaebum stood up. "If this is all going on right now then we need to get a move on." He declared. "Sungchul-ssi, is there any kind of main server room in the headquarters? Like a backbone of some sorts?"

Sungchul thought about the leader's question for a moment. "As a matter of fact, yes. The main servers and monitors are all there, the ones that are used to track victims..."

"Then we nuke the backbone, problem solved!" Jackson perplexed.

Sungchul laughed a little. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. The place is guarded to hell and back. And in order to do anything on that server, you need the admin password. Only a very select few of higher-ups have one."

"Don't worry," Wonpil intoned, "we'll find it."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,  
> I wrote this while i should've been studying but i honestly don't care anyways, YELLOW WOOD WTF I AM SHOOOOOK  
> It comes out on the last day of my exams, what a treat :))))) (I'm going to sob)  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	21. Fight

Jeongin and Chunso kept their voices hushed and low, the other people in the room slowly losing interest in the two as Jeongin desperately tried to make sense of the situation. 

_My best friend is working for the organisation that wants me gone?_

_The plot thickens_

"W-What are you doing here?" Jeongin hissed, shuffling closer to his masked friend.

"Well, what are you doing here?!" Chunso countered, feeling his hands get even sweatier as the time passed.

"I was in the street, we were trying to catch one of...your coworkers? They got me, Jisung hyung and Felix hyung." Jeongin felt himself getting teary-eyed at the mention of his friends. Not knowing where they were was killing him. He knew Felix would comply with whatever they wanted, he was a passive person, but Jisung? Jisung didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. He was a fighter, even when it wasn't exactly necessary. Jeongin knew it would be his hyung's downfall, he just didn't know when.

_I hope they don't do anything stupid_

"Oh no..." Chunso muttered, looking around to make sure nobody was looking at him. "Look, I can try my best to keep you all safe. I'll try to postpone your operations, put you all at the back of the line kinda thing."

"Hang on, why are you even here?"

Chunso sighed. "They have my sister. A few days after she went missing, I was contacted by Null. They said they had my sister, and they had...evidence. They said that if I worked for them for a certain amount of time, they'd let me and my sister go. That's why I'm here. I work nights."

"Seriously? Do your parents know?" Jeongin hissed, eyes wide.

Chunso scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, they do. They didn't go to the police because Null said they'd kill Yoona if we did." His voice sounded desperate, almost childish.

Jeongin nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. "I know you probably don't want to hear this, but how do you know if she's even still alive? What if they're playing with you?"

"That's the risk I have to take." The latter replied. "I'm not telling anyone. The traitor always dies in the end. I don't want to die, Jeongin."

Jeongin nodded. "My hyungs don't give up easily, they'll find out where we are and put an end to this. I promise."

Chunso smiled. "And bring Yoona home?"

"And bring Yoona-ssi home."

 

Felix squeezed his eyes shut, despite being blindfolded as another hand began to trail down his body. People were being called in all night, assessing him, touching him, recommending what to do with him. Random numbers were being shouted out every so often. It was confusing for the Australian, but he had a fair idea of what was going on.

Obviously, he had heard of human trafficking before, but he never expected it to be so hands-on, so intimate. He thought people were just shipped away on the spot, not touched or groped or assessed. Thankfully, the hand that was trailing down his stomach finally stopped before his pelvis.

"How's his voice?" A monotoned voice finally broke the silence, the sheer lack of emotion in this person's voice made Felix even more uncomfortable.

"We haven't heard much of it. I think it's deep." He heard a clicking noise and the voice of another person behind him, he could feel the person's breath on his neck. "Say something for us, pretty boy, and we won't shoot."

Felix gulped, his whole body shaking with adrenaline. "D-Don't shoot, please?"

Whoever was behind him seemed satisfied with what he said. "Buyers prefer higher voices, but his body makes up for it." 

_If this guy doesn't shut up, I'm going to vomit._

"How much are you thinking, boss?"

"In the range of ₩115,000,000. I think that's a good price. We don't produce shoddy goods here."

Felix felt someone begin to touch the hem of his shirt, the hand slowly reaching underneath. "We should get pictures of him now while we're here."

_Pictures?_

He felt his shirt being lifted over his head and brought down by his shoulders to his wrists, which were still bound. He could feel his face burning up as someone began tugging at his pants, but he didn't dare to move. Completely exposed, he could hear the clicking sound of a camera around his body. 

_At least the pictures don't show my face. If I do escape, they can't identify me, right?_

 

Jisung heaved as he sat up from the floor, his stomach still hurting and his head and hair still caked with blood. He was deemed "too aggressive" to be put in a regular room. Therefore, he had been sent to the basement of the building, isolated from other captives. 

The silence of the dimly lit basement was killing him, as was the pain around his back and stomach. Using one arm to keep himself up, he poked his stomach with the other, instantly regretting it.

_Huh, maybe trying to fight 4 to 1 wasn't the best idea_

"I'm a fucking idiot..." Jisung said to himself, pushing his aching arms upwards to get his back against the wall. The basement was huge, there was barely anything in it except for beams to keep the ceiling up. That's when it hit Jisung.

_This is where they hide everything in case of a raid._

With all of his strength, the squirrel managed to stand up, using the wall for support. He leaned over the wall to see a set of concrete stairs leading to a cellar door, as well as a few shitty windows lining the top of the wall. His hopes began to rise until he saw the padded lock on the cellar door. "Fuck..."

_I'll come back for that later._

Suddenly, as if on cue, the door to the basement swung open, the light from upstairs catching Jisung. He turned around like a convict, hands slightly in the air.

The only thing that Jisung heard was "Break his leg." before he found himself on the ground, with nowhere to run.

Not that he would be able to run afterwards anyway.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a quick chapter to let y'all know how the babies are doing. Spoiler alert it's not so well :)))))  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	22. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have big, big plans.

It had been two days. Two excruciatingly long, quiet days. Nobody was in the mood to talk when three of the loudest hackers they knew were gone. Chan had noticed a silent determination among each group, which comforted him.

"Sungchul-ssi, how long did you say it takes for people to be shipped off for...ya know?" Jae hesitated, his eyes downcasted as he watched the older man write something on the whiteboard alongside Jaebum and Chan, the smell of markers lingering in the air.

Sungchul looked up. "Well, from the day of their arrival, maybe one or two days. This sounds horrible, but it depends on demand." 

Jae shot a look of worry in Chan and Jaebum's direction. "We should really speed up."

"Don't worry, we're already working on it. Go check with the others." Jaebum returned his attention back to the whiteboard, leaving Jae free to wander.

He stood back a little, observing the room in front of him. It was a quiet atmosphere, everyone was working in groups trying to come up with something useful, contrary to its usual liveliness.

_Huh, those kids really were the mood makers._

Jae caught himself.

_Were? Don't think of that like they're gone forever. They're still alive._

_They're still alive._

Jae let a sigh escape his lips before he approached Minho, Hyunjin and Youngjae. The trio was crowded around Youngjae's laptop, rapidly scrolling. "What's the plan here?" 

Youngjae turned around. "We're looking through human trafficking forums to see if we can find anything on Felix. Nothing has come up so far." 

"Thankfully." Minho chimed in.

Hyunjin hissed. "It's horrible, Hyung. They post pictures and everything." 

Jae leaned over the younger's shoulder. The posts that were being made on the forum consisted of information like height, weight, gender and a picture of the victim stripped down, some in their underwear and others being a little more exposed. Some people were crying in their pictures. Others looked completely emotionless like they knew that there was no point in even trying to escape. 

Beside these posts were pricing, and it was high, higher than anything that Jae had ever seen on the black market. "It really makes you think what kind of people are buying, well, other people," he said as he gestured to the prices.

"People who are probably rich and either want sex or a slave." Youngjae sighed monotonously. Hyunjin shuddered at the thought. "W-What do we do if we actually find Felix here?"

"We could pretend we want to buy him." Minho shrugged. 

"True, but we're also broke." Jae reminded him.

Jae left the three to their task, with Hyunjin fearing the worst after every page refresh.

The remainder of Day6, accompanied by Jackson had left to scout out the area that Sungchul had described, to find security cameras and most importantly, to make sure he wasn't lying. Jaebum felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out.  **Sungjin**

Jaebum answered as soon as he saw the other leader's name, putting him on speakerphone. "Well? anything?"

**"It turns out he was telling the truth. There's a building here."**

Jinyoung scoffed. "I'm actually surprised."

Sungchul refrained from cursing at him, while the others began to stop what they were doing in order to listen in. "Have you found anything that could get us inside?" Jaebum questioned.

There was a short pause before running could be heard over the line. Jaebum looked up to see that the others were just as concerned as he was. "Sungjin-ssi?"

 **"Sorry, someone came out of the door so we had to bolt**." He paused again for a moment, Wonpil saying something quietly in the background. " **There's a cellar door around the back but it's locked. We could try and pick it but..."**

"We don't have Jisungie..." Jaebum bit the inside of his cheek and cursed. "We could send someone over with tools if you want." 

Chan cut in. "There's no point, Hyung. Without Jisung we aren't getting in. He's the best we have for lockpicking." 

"I wouldn't take the chance anyway, it's too risky." Jaebum shook his head. "Is there anything else around?"

**"There are a few CCTV cameras, we could patch into those some other time and use them."**

"Sounds like a plan," Changbin mumbled.

"Right." Jaebum began. "At least we know the locations of the cameras. We can go back there later and patch into them using their network. Anything else you see?"

" **Yeah, there's a bunch of trays and crates all around the back. It looks like...surgery equipment? I don't know, I can't really explain it."**

Sungchul hummed. "That sounds about right. Many bulks of new equipment were ordered a month ago, that's probably it."

Jaebum nodded. "Scout out the area a little more and come back home, we need everyone here for the briefing."

 The leader hung up. "Time to play the waiting game."

 

Eventually, after sending Yugyeom with a laptop to the location, everyone managed to get home safely. Day6 managed to hack into a camera and luckily enough, all of the other cameras in and around the building were all on the same network, making it easy to pivot.

"We made a backdoor" Wonpil exclaimed as he sat down. "We can get back in as long as it goes unnoticed." 

Jae smiled ever so slightly. "Well, that's great! Did you flip through the cameras?"

Younghyun shook his head. "We didn't get that much time, but they're labelled pretty clearly. I don't think it'll be a problem to use them."

It was at that moment that Jaebum called everyone to join him, Chan and Sungchul. Youngjae closed the lid of his laptop, "What are we even calling this?"

"Operation...I don't know? don't die?" Jinyoung replied sarcastically. 

"We aren't calling it anything, It's just a few guidelines as to how we're getting in and out." It took a little while, but finally, everyone was crowded around and ready to listen to the plan, Chan offering to explain it in the detail that it had been planned in. 

"So, I know everyone is scared and confused, but this is the best that we managed to come up with, so bear with me," He began. "We have the cameras to the building hacked, so that means that some group is going to have to stay behind and monitor them, guide us around and so on. Any volunteers?"

There was a short silence before Jae put up his hand. "I can do it, I'll be your shot caller." Chan grinned and wrote his name down on the whiteboard, while the rest of Day6 also put up their hands. Jaebum frowned, "Are you sure you all want to stay back for this one?"

Sungjin nodded. "We aren't extremely good on the field, we'll hang back and do the technical work." 

Chan wrote down the rest of their names and continued. "Since that cellar door isn't an option, we're going to have to do this the hard way. We know what kind of masks Null wear, right? We're going to find a few of them and send in two or three people to the front to avoid suspicion. Is anyone in the mood for some toe to toe infiltration?"

"Sounds like fun to me." Minho shrugged as he raised his hand. Chan's hand hesitated as he moved to write Minho's name, but wrote it down anyway. Jackson and Changbin also put their hands up after Minho. "Cool, I guess I'll be joining you too, why not." The leader swiftly wrote down everyone's names in their designated section of the whiteboard.

"After we get inside, it's gonna be our jobs to get everyone else in. Some of us are going to try to shut down their equipment and compromise their systems" Changbin's brain was already racing about what kind of programs and viruses he could use to corrupt everything, "and the rest of us are going to find Felix, Jeongin and Jisung. We'll station everyone to be at a door or window at a specific moment, and we'll get you inside."

Youngjae raised his hand slightly. "How do we know where they're going to be?"

"We'll reverse the security camera footage before we leave and see where they were brought to, plus Day6 will have control over the cameras. They'll be our eyes and ears. Well, mainly eyes." Wonpil grinned, being called the "eyes and ears" of the operation made their job sound a lot cooler than it actually was.

Chan let Sungchul take over, the older man leaning towards the table with his fingers laced. "The test subjects and the people being trafficked are kept in separate areas, as well as the whole computer and technology department. So that means that we're all going to be split up during this. Try to at least stay in twos for safety, got it?" 

Everyone nodded, already deciding among themselves who they were going to try to stick with like some kind of class project. "This place is heavily guarded by actual Null members who know their members well, so try not to talk a lot and just stay focused on the task at hand. Day6 can provide us with a route out. Hopefully, If everything goes according to plan, we can execute the final stage."

"Which is?" Mark questioned.

"One of us needs to call the police and an ambulance and say what's going on. Pretend to be a victim or a whistleblower, something like that. That way, they can mop up the mess completely and get everyone home safe while you get back home. I'll stay with my family."

Hyunjin's ears pricked up at the word ambulance. _Am_ _bulance? is he trying to say that we're going to need one? Or are the maknaes going to need one? Oh god..._

Nobody liked the idea of calling the cops since they were hackers, hackers on the fence between legal and illegal activity. "The police won't do anything, they're practically useless around these parts. If Null pays them off well enough they probably won't even show." Minho grumbled. 

"You're right about that, but at the same time, we need the law there. They can call as much backup as they want and more importantly, they can call FBI." Sungchul replied. "You don't have to give statements or anything If you don't want to, just disappear and stay out of sight until you get home."

"It sounds...executable," Jae hesitated. "Not to be that guy, but what if we get compromised?"

Chan swallowed hard and got up from his chair. He made his way to his laptop case that was resting on a countertop and pulled out a shiny, silver pistol, already loaded. 

Seungmin stared at the weapon in complete disbelief. "Hyung, you're not serious, are you?"

"I only really got it as a scare. It's all we could afford, but yeah..." Seungmin noticed that the leader almost sounded ashamed of his actions, his hands shaking. "Whoever ends up getting this gun, just promise me that you'll only use it if it's absolutely necessary. We can't have someone else's blood on our hands, Null member or not."

Everyone firmly agreed, the younger faction still shaken up by the fact that Chan, their  _caring_ leader, had actually bought a gun. A real gun with real bullets that could  _kill_ someone. 

 

Chan let everyone ask questions and discuss the plan, as well as observe and take pictures of the rough map that Jaebum managed to draw using Sungchul's memory of the building.  _If any of us actually have to use that thing, I don't know if anyone is gonna recover from that..._

_It's just a precaution, right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh I'm actually annoyed at myself for writing when Sungjin suggests picking the lock, Jisung is literally underneath them oof.  
> I also kinda added the thing with day6 staying back because "They're not good on the field." as a metaphor for the fact that they're underrated as heck and need more promotions bc I <3 ma bois.  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb<3


	23. 426

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ERROR 426: UPGRADE REQUIRED

When Jisung eventually came to, the first thing he noticed was the excruciating pain radiating from his left leg. It felt like hot embers were being poured in his bones and travelling all the way up the lower half of his body, yet there was still an awkward numbness lingering, almost like pins and needles. 

Despite his eyes being closed, he could still figure out that there was a light shining on him, not directly on him but slightly off to the left, hovering over his arm.

_What happened?_

It finally hit him, the memories of what had happened prior to him being knocked out. A big, burly man in a white mask, using his strength and size to overpower him, beating him into the ground and mainly aiming for his leg. His limb was now paying the price of trying to find a way to escape.

_He broke my leg on purpose_

_He broke my leg so I couldn't escape._

"S-Shit..." Jisung finally opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but the bounds around his arms and ankles prevented him from doing so. Terrified, he began to fight against the bounds, putting their durability to the test. Much to his sorrow, they weren't budging, and Jisung wasn't going anywhere.

_I don't think legs are supposed to bend like that._

He felt his heart rate begin to pick up as the clinking sound of tools appeared behind him, very suddenly. The sound of something being wheeled up towards his head was also clearly audible, it sounded like a cart or tray of some kind. "W-Who's there?!"

"That doesn't matter." The female voice behind Jisung's head made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. it sounded so  _monotonous._ So  _dead._ As if whoever this was was used to doing whatever the hell was about to happen.

"Let me go..." Jisung whimpered as the woman began to touch and poke at his arm, cringing at how desperate and scared his voice sounded. He had never been so disgusted by his own voice before.

_You're supposed to be the brave one. Yet here you are, crying at some lady? get a grip_

Trying to ignore the pain in his leg, he began to thrash again, distracting the woman and preventing her from doing whatever she was about to do.   _Buy time, buy as much time as you can._

The woman let out a frustrated huff and clicked her fingers. The man from earlier appeared at Jisung's side silently, and with one foul punch into the side of the stomach, Jisung was silenced after a quick yelp of pain. He felt like vomiting, but the position he was lying in wouldn't allow him to.

"Do that again and I won't be gentle, at all..." The woman hissed, yanking his arm back a little into an unnatural position. "We need to begin the experiment now, boss's orders."

 

Felix's blindfold still hadn't been removed, and the Australian had come to the conclusion that Null was keeping it on to disorient him, to prevent him from getting a layout of the building. He would've considered it to be a smart move, but not now as he was on the receiving end of this disorientation.

He had been sitting in a cold, damp room for what felt like hours, still blindfolded and hands still bound to a shitty metal chair, he contemplated standing up and trying to walk around, but he couldn't risk it.

The creak of the large door startled him, and a rough hand began to untie his bounds from the chair, but ultimately tied them again once they were released from the chair. Felix's wrists ached as he was pulled to stand up and began walking blindly with the hand guiding him.

_What's happening, where are they taking me?_

_Why are they doing this?..._

Tears silently began to accumulate behind his blindfold, having nowhere else to fall. He stumbled forwards as he was pushed into a new area. "Is this the one you need, sir?"

Felix wasn't listening to whatever was being said, all he could think about was his other two friends, his brothers, who were being kept god knows where and forced to do god knows what. That is until he was being picked up and slung over someone's shoulder like a child. "W-What?!"

"Shut up." A firm, but deadly voice said into his ear. He was placed on the floor again. "Give him the stuff."

Felix froze.  _Are they going to drug me?_

Without warning, a pill was shoved into his mouth. "Swallow it, or I'll blow your fucking brains out."

_I can't swallow this, no way..._

Felix made a swallowing motion in his throat but moved the tiny pill to the front of his teeth with his tongue, hiding it with his inner lip. Whoever it was moved closer to Felix's mouth.

_If he shoots me, they'll find my body and find all of their DNA on it. They'll be stopped_

_I can be evidence, everyone always leaves something behind._  

The man moved away from Felix, satisfied that he had "swallowed" the pill. "That should kick in in an hour."

Felix breathed a sigh of relief before being picked up again, but for a shorter period of time. The sound of something opening was heard before the Australian was thrown off the man's shoulders and dumped into a small, carpeted area. 

_A car trunk._

"The order is ready to be picked up at midnight, we might as well wait around." Was the last thing Felix heard before the lid of the trunk was slammed down. Plunging it into total darkness.

 

Jeongin had put his faith into Chunso, and it seemed to be paying off. People were being brought in and out of the room, others injured and others not, but Jeongin had not been touched. It seemed that Chunso had actually managed to postpone whatever was going to happen to him. People were coming back with electrical components in places that they weren't supposed to be, in people's arms, thighs and stomachs. Hell, some people  _never_ came back.

He managed to move across the room to the boy with brown hair when there was nobody stationed at their room. He was a little taller than Jeongin, with big hands and a smaller face. He looked extremely innocent, but the blood staining his hair and clothes was telling Jeongin otherwise.

"How long have you been here?" Jeongin asked quietly, treading carefully to not upset the other boy.

"A little over a week" Jisung nodded sadly. "I think, it could be longer, there are no clocks in here."

"God..." Jeongin muttered. Being there for a day was bad enough, but being here for a week? Jeongin couldn't fathom that. "My name's Jeongin."

"Jisung..." the other boy said. "Park Jisung." 

Jeongin refrained from asking the boy where all the blood and bruising came from, the answer was kind of obvious.

Suddenly, the door swung open and any hushed talking was ceased. Jeongin held his breath as the guard looked around, making sure nothing suspicious was happening before closing the door again.

 He let go of his breath and Jisung spoke again. "I managed to time the break that the guards take, it's eight minutes. So there are eight minutes of no guards here, and another eight minutes of someone guarding us."

Jeongin cursed, something he didn't do often, before sliding down the wall a little more, noticing the bloodstains on it. "How did you end up here?" Jisung asked.

Jeongin hesitated, unsure as to whether or not he should tell Jisung about Stray Kids and what they were doing.

_Screw it, what do I have to lose?_

"My hyungs and I are a hacker group, and we were targeted by Null for some reason. We tried to fight back and we made a plan, but as you can see it didn't turn out well." He explained, gesturing to himself at the last statement.

Jisung's eyes widened. "Are you from JYP?"

Jeongin's eyebrows furrowed. "Y-Yeah?"

"There was a rumour going around our factions that a faction in JYP was being targeted by human traffickers." Jisung explained. "Taeyong hyung gave our whole faction a talk on it. He said that it was probably just a rumour but to stay safe anyway, he particularly wanted to talk to the younger members of our group, like me."

Jeongin paused. "What company are you from? Where's your faction?"

"SM, Neo Culture Technology. NCT for short" Jisung answered. "My faction isn't here, it's only me who was caught."

"NCT, NCT..." Jeongin muttered, getting a feel for the word on his tongue. "I've heard of that name. Weren't you guys involved in the Seoul Station hack?" 

Jisung looked down and smiled. "Yep, that was us." He looked up at Jeongin again. "Small world, huh? What's your faction?"

"Stray kids." 

"Isn't Han Jisung in your faction? His livestreams were so funny, he's so good at tampering with tech. Why did he stop?"

Jeongin laughed slightly, remembering the reason. "Chan Hyung banned him from livestreaming after he nearly took someones head off with a drone, a drone deployed with a knife."

Jisung chuckled to himself and sighed, looking at Jeongin. "It was nice getting to know you, Jeongin-ssi." He paused, looking down at the cuffs of his sweater, which were stained in blood. "Be honest, do you think we're gonna survive?"

Jeongin sighed, shuffling a little closer to Jisung. "I don't know. My friend works here, he's trying to postpone anything that's gonna happen so either my hyungs find us or the police find us. I'm sure your hyungs are out looking for you too."

"Yeah..."

Suddenly, the door swung open again, anyone who was talking instantly shutting up. A masked person turned a corner and approached Jeongin, pulling him up by the arm. "Wait, no!" Jisung grabbed Jeongin's other arm, using his feet to ground himself. The person kicked Jisung away, his head whacking against the blood-stained wall.

The person kept a firm grip on Jeongin's wrist as he was lead to another room. Jeongin could safely conclude that this place was definitely some kind of abandoned hospital. There were signs everywhere.  **"OUT-PATIENTS" "DERMATOLOGY" "ONCOLOGY" "CANTEEN"**

_No wonder this place is so organised, they're using each hospital area for different things, and they probably modified the old computer systems here._

Jeongin was led through a door into what looked like a doctors office, the label on the door had been ripped off. A man in a mask was sitting on a shitty metal chair behind the worn desk. This hospital had to be at least ten years old, maybe even more due to the mould and dust everywhere.

"You're Yang Jeongin of Stray Kids, correct?" The man asked him. Jeongin nodded.

_Oh fuck, he knows my full name_

"Good. So we have the right person..." The man was acting oddly professional. "I'm going to cut straight to the chase. We know a lot of things about you, Jeongin-ah. Wouldn't it be a shame if something happened to your mother? father? your brothers back in Busan? Your friends Or maybe your fellow hackers?"

_Blackmail?_

"So here's my proposal. You tell me everything you know about JYP Technology, and I don't skin you and everyone you love alive."

_Shit._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey babes, it's ya boi, skinny penis,  
> Okay but fr Day6's new comeback is full of absolute bops I'm so proud of them, I hope we can get them their first win!!!! The boys deserve it so much!!!  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3


	24. Hostage

**"Chan, do you copy?"**

The leader blinked, Sungjin's voice snapping him out of his dazed state as the van pulled up. 

"Y-Yeah, I copy." 

**"One more thing before you head inside. There's a sort of shame that lies in Null, guilt, nobody likes taking off their mask for whatever reason, you should be okay for the most part, do you remember your clock in names?"**

Chan opened the door of the van, which Jackson had conveniently parked back towards the community college to avoid detection. "Yep. Mine's Lee Hoseok, Changbin's is Park Kihyuk, Minho's is Park Seonghwa, Jackson hyung's is Kang Hwanchul."

The quartet exited the van, Day6's voices no longer being heard over the comms. Jackson found it a little hard to breathe with the mask on, but he didn't care. Taking it off would be suicide.

The group moved in silence towards the abandoned hospital, their pace quick and their minds racing. "This is fucking nuts." Changbin muttered, fiddling with a USB that was tucked away in the safety of his pocket. "We aren't made for this, we aren't the police."

"We found this place before the police ever did, what does that say about them?" Minho replied, wrapping his jacket tighter around him as they walked. "I'm telling you, the police don't care, or they're picky with their cases. If something's too difficult for them they just make up some bullshit excuse as to why it happened and leave it at that"

"True, and the thing that happened with Jeongin's friend's sister definitely isn't going to help with the police's public image now." Chan chimed in, leaning past the bush to see if there was anyone guarding the hospital. 

"My parents wanted me to become a police officer, jokes on them." Minho laughed dryly. "Now I'm a vigilante." 

The hospital was in full view now, there were few lights in the building, and the ones that were there were dim. It seemed that not all of the building was being used, which would narrow down where they needed to search tremendously.

"Moment of truth..." Chan whispered.

 

**"Moment of truth..."**

"They're heading in, keep an eye on the cameras in the front of the building. Make sure everyone is in position." Sungjin ordered.

Day6 had been sitting at their laptops for almost an hour, watching the cameras like hawks and analyzing the footage that the cameras had taken previously in an attempt to find the maknaes. Jae promptly switched his camera view to the east camera, this camera was situated outside the door of the building and could be moved to each side of the hospital hallways, one side went to outpatients, the dispensary, ER, and the day room. The other side went to Oncology, Dermatology, and other such locations that the group definitely didn't understand.

Jae saw the group at the door, signing in with their names and hacking the passwords. The cameras were quite slow, but Jae managed to see that there was nobody patrolling that hallway. "There's nobody in the hallway, just hang around there after you sign in and we'll tell you where to go next." 

He saw Jackson briefly smile at the camera, knowing that Day6 were watching. All the group managed to sign in and they shuffled in the doors, which had been ripped off of their hinges and were barely hanging on.

 **"Where to next?"** Minho whispered, keeping his voice low in fear of being heard.

"Hang on, we're trying to see if everyone's in place..." Dowoon replied. He flicked through the cameras to where everyone was stationed. There were many fire exits in the building, but little to no windows in the hallways. Windows could only really be found in wards.

"Okay..." Dowoon began. "There's a lot to cover. You're going to have to split up." Dowoon heard someone curse under their breath. "Changbin-ah, Minho-ah, head right towards ward B. Jaebum hyung and Hyunjin are waiting at the window in room 134. There's a fire exit just across the way, Woojin is waiting there. From there, head to the cafeteria. There are signs everywhere for it."

 **"Ward B, room 134, got it,"** Changbin confirmed. The pair brushed past Chan and Jackson, Changbin squeezing Minho's hand tightly for reassurance.

"Chan-ah, Jackson hyung, you need to go left to oncology. It seems quiet for now. There's a fire exit door labelled A. Yugyeom and Bambam are waiting there. Seungmin and Jinyoung are waiting in the smoking area, open the door for them too. Then go to the cafeteria with the others"

 **"Why the cafeteria?"** Chan whispered, unsure. 

"That's basically the hub for activity, there's a bunch of people in there keeping inventory of drugs and hacking. You'll be able to blend in unnoticed." Before Dowoon let go of the microphone button, he hesitated. "Be safe."

Chan smiled to himself.  **"We will."**

 

Walking through the hallway of the wards was nothing short of horrifying. People were crying and wailing behind closed doors, doors that Minho definitely didn't want to open. There were stains of blood and dirt on the floor, even along the walls. Changbin noticed the elder flinching at a sharp cry that sounded too close for comfort. "Try to ignore it, hyung. We need to keep going."

Minho simply nodded as they bounded forward, trying to ignore the sounds of complete insanity behind him.

_132_

_133_

_134, this is it..._

The pair began to walk slower as a member of Null passed them, not saying anything. It seemed that their disguises were a saving grace. Once they were out of view Minho pressed his ear against the door, listening for any signs of danger in there. "It sounds quiet..." Minho whispered.

With one swift motion, Changbin opened the door. The room was dark, being lit by the moonlight coming from outside. The curtains on the windows had been ripped, the furniture mouldy and dirty. Without a word, Minho shut the door and tiptoed towards the window. He lifted it open and peered out to see two tall figures, undoubtedly Hyunjin and Jaebum. Minho could tell by the way that the figure was standing that it was Hyunjin.

The pair stepped back as Jaebum and Hyunjin climbed into the room. "Where're the others?" The leader asked quietly, brushing himself off.

"We separated so we could get everyone inside without making it obvious," Minho said, handing the two USBs. "I'm going to get Woojin hyung. Stay silent." He pressed his ear against the door to listen for noise, before opening it and disappearing to get to the fire exit.

Hyunjin leaned against the wall, moving his hip to avoid the mould on the chair. "I wonder how Chan hyung and Jackson hyung are doing."

Changbin's earpiece went to static, before Wonpil's voice could be heard.  **"Someone's coming your way, Changbin-ah."  
**

"I'm sure they're doing fine, they aren't du-" Jaebum was cut off by the creak of the door and a person walking in. The group froze in fear, Changbin realizing that this person was too tall to be Minho.

"Evening..." The man coughed and crossed the room towards the window, before climbing out of it and walking away. Hyunjin slowly walked over and with shaky hands, closed it. 

"What the fuck was that." Changbin hissed, eyes wide. 

The door opened again, but it was definitely Minho, Changbin could tell because of his height. "I saw someone come in here, did they say anything." Woojin soon followed in after him, greeting the others quietly.

Hyunjin shook his head and glanced at the window. "No, they just climbed out the window and left."

"Aish..." Jaebum muttered. "We should keep going, where to next?" 

"Cafeteria, we're meeting up with the others there. Not really sure what's after that..."

 

The oncology section of the hospital was quiet, leading Jackson to believe that it wasn't really used for anything that Null was doing, which he was grateful for.

"Fire exit A..."Chan muttered to himself as they turned the corner. "Where are you..."

 **"Be careful, there are people coming your way, and they have a hospital bed."** Younghyun's voice went to static, giving Chan no time to ask what the hell he was talking about.

Two null members were walking down the hall, pushing a hospital bed with a crying, beaten girl on it. She was crying so hard that Jackson wondered if she could even breathe. The pair stepped to the side, allowing the trolley to be pushed away, the two null members not saying a word. A trail of blood began following the trolley and stretched all the way to the end of the hallway.

Jackson looked at Chan, then back at the girl, who was almost out of view by now but her screams were still as clear as day. "O-Oh my god..."

The leader shuddered and couldn't help but think about what he would do if he found one of the maknaes in that position. If he found Felix, Jisung or Jeongin strapped to a trolley unable to move, unable to speak,  _hurt. Dead._ He didn't want to think about it, but it didn't slip his mind either.

"The fire exit is there," Jackson whispered, snapping Chan out of his daze. Jackson gently pushed in the handlebar and the door opened. "Guys?"

"We're here." Chan slumped in relief as he heard Yugyeom's voice. Bambam slid through the crack in the door that Jackson had made, followed by the latter.

"Is everything okay, we heard a lot of screaming in here..." Bambam hissed as Yugyeom shut the fire door as quietly as he could. "It's okay, it wasn't us, it was a girl..." Jackson replied, not wanting to think about it too much. 

"The door to the smoking area shouldn't be far," Chan muttered, gesturing for the others to follow him. They stopped at a door with Hangul spray-painted on it. The writing was messy and unclear but Chan managed to make out the words "흡연 구역"

"Here it is," The leader opened the door ever so slightly, but froze once he saw more than two people out there. There were five figures standing in the smoking area, all with cigarettes in their hands. The smell of tobacco and hash was unbearable.

_How do we know who's who?_

Chan flailed his hand behind him, motioning for the others to get back and stay out of sight. He opened the door with a little more confidence this time, nobody moved or turned to see who had opened the door, except for two figures in the corner. They were smoking but clearly didn't know how. Chan nodded in their direction and simply closed the door. 

"Are they there?" Yugyeom whispered.

"Just wait for a second..." The latter replied. The leader's theory seemed to be correct as moments later, the door opened and two people stepped into the darkness of the hallway. "Smoking is the worst..." Seungmin muttered and the group finally relaxed. "Please don't tell me that you actually smoked a cigarette." Chan pleaded to the younger.

Jinyoung answered before Seungmin could. "We had to do it, it would've looked suspicious if we were just standing there and not smoking."

The leader huffed, understanding why they did it but still not happy with it. "Promise me you'll never do that again."

Seungmin nodded, knowing that the elder was definitely going to talk with him about it later. Jackson cleared his throat, "We need to get to the cafeteria, we'll trickle in so it doesn't look suspicious. We'll head inside in ones or twos and follow long."

The others nodded in agreement and made their way down the hallway with the sign to the cafeteria, each at different paces to avoid suspicion. The hallway was eerily quiet after the girl in the trolley past, Chan wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

**"Minho and the others are in the very left corner in the cafeteria, next to the window. Go in twos, maximum. There's a lot of people in there and we don't want anyone to catch on."**

"Got it..." Jackson whispered as he walked through the doors first. He scanned the room, looking for the corner that Younghyun was talking about. Not making eye contact with anyone in the room, he bounded forward to the corner.

 

**"Jackson and the others are headed your way, we're looking for the kids now, we're gonna need a few minutes so hang tight."**

Changbin cursed, not liking that they had to wait longer to find their maknaes. Every minute that passed was killing him, not knowing where they were or who they were with, hell, if they were even  _alive_ , was something that Changbin never wanted to experience again, not for a long time.

"Hey," Minho said softly, "We've made it this far, nothing can stop us now. We just need to wait."

The elder's eyes darted across the room as he saw Jackson walking towards them. After finally making it over, he let out a small sigh. "The others are gonna trickle in."

Jaebum simply nodded, ready to play the waiting game.

Slowly the group began to trickle into the hall and luckily, the tactic worked. Everyone seemed to be too caught up in their own business to care about what was going on in the corner. 

"What did Day6 say?" Chan whispered to Changbin, who had been staring at the door. "They said they're reversing the footage to find out where the maknaes are. They're trying to find the server room too so we can take what we need and shut it down."

"Once we start our attack on the server room, it's not gonna go unnoticed." The leader replied softly. "We're gonna have to be either extremely quick or prepared to fight."

The latter nodded, before remembering what the leader had shown them the night before. "Hyung, do you still have the gun?"

Chan froze, feeling around in his jacket pocket. He almost forgot that it had been there in the first place. "Yeah, I do."

Changbin didn't say anything in response.

 

"Camera footage is erased every 48 hours, we need to hurry!" Wonpil crowed, realising that the footage was disappearing by the minute. 

"Wait, what?" Jae turned around in his chair and reversed the footage further, and got the same results as Wonpil, an error message. "It must be apart of some algorithm they created..."

The eldest flicked his mouse to the west hallway camera and began reversing the footage _._

_R E V E R S I N G..._

_R E V E R S I N G_

**Loading... ... ...** _  
_

The video finally began to play. The footage was quite recent, around fifteen minutes ago. Jae stared at the footage, desperate to find any hint of Jisung, Felix or Jeongin in the frame. 

_This is impossible, there's no way we're gonna find anything in such recent footage, we should look back at lea-_

_Oh god_

"F-Fuck..." Jae exclaimed, pausing the footage and enhancing it to the max. There, being rolled down the hallway in a trolley was Jisung. He wasn't moving, his leg was sticking out at a strange angle. Jae knew there were two options now. Bring Jisung home alive, or find a body.

"Keep following the cameras down!" Sungjin cried, leaning over Jae's shoulder as the eldest tried his hardest to switch between the cameras fast enough. The people who were pushing Jisung eventually stopped outside an operating theatre, theatre 2 to be exact, before opening the door and pushing the trolley inside.

_He could still be in there!_

"Chan-ah, we've found Jisung. He's on the second floor in an operating theatre, theatre 2. Give us a little more time to find the others."

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so long since I've updated this story oh my god, tbh I kinda just got really unmotivated all of a sudden but hopefully, I'll be able to upload the next few chapters with ease :D  
> Good luck to anyone whos going back to school! I'm going back in a few days and tbh that shit can wait  
> Also, I listen to a lot of music while I write. While writing this chapter I was listening to a lot of the soundtrack for Detroit become human, particularly Connors soundtrack, so here's the song that inspired this chapter! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8cJt3vmAuA  
> Until next time - Cherry Bomb <3

**Author's Note:**

> I love stray kids with all my heart, as well as having a decent knowledge with computers I decided to combine the two and create a hacker fic instead of studying OH WELL.


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